Inter crush Bologna 4-1 as Leonardo's renaissance continues

Inter Milan cruised to their fourth successive victory with a 4-1 win over Bologna on Saturday as the club's revival under Brazilian coach Leonardo continues in dramatic fashion. Since taking over the helm from Rafa Benitez in late December, Leonardo can claim responsibility for the four victories that now leave Inter eight points behind AC Milan, with a game in hand. "We know what we are doing now and how we want to play,'' Leonardo said to Sky Italia in an interview. He later elaborated: "This is the Inter we saw for such a long time. It's a team with clear ideas and a clear vision of its football."

Inter beat Bologna thanks to goals by Dejan Stankovic, Diego Milito and a brace by Samuel Eto. The first goal witnessed Samuel Eto steaming up the left flank and picking out the open Dejan Stankovic, who calmly slotted the ball home. In the 30th minute, Milito latched onto a long through ball from midfield, turned and dispatched it into the back of the net with his left foot to make it 2-0. For the third goal, Eto again raced up the left flank and leveraged a one-two combination with Diego Milito that enabled him to fire into the bottom right corner of the net from his right foot. Finally, Eto scored Inter’s fourth goal from a free kick in the 72 minute when he curled the ball over the Bologna wall into the far right left corner of the net.

Speaking of the victory against Bologna, Leonardo remarked: "This was an important victory against a Bologna side in good form. It is wonderful to see Samuel Eto'o and Diego Milito seek each other out on the field. Harmony in a team is essential." Cameroon striker Samuel Eto has now scored 23 goals in 26 games this season for Inter Milan.

Leonardo notches win for Inter in debut match as coach; AC Milan hold off Cagliari

New Inter Milan coach Leonardo Nascimento de Araujo got off to a flying start with a 3-1 win for Inter over Napoli today, while league leaders AC Milan consolidated their place at the top of the Serie A table with a 1-0 win over Cagliari. Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta opened the scoring for Inter in the third minute after some fine one touch passing between Goran Pandev, Dejan Stankovic and Motta, who finally volleyed the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, 18 yards from goal. Michele Pazienza equalized for Napoli with a header off a corner kick in the 25th minute, but Esteban Cambiasso put Inter back in front by heading home a Maicon cross in the 37th minute. Motta sealed Leonardo's first victory as coach with yet another header goal for the match, this time from an Inter corner in the 55th minute. Inter secured their victory without suspended striker Samuel Eto and the injured Wesley Sneijder and Julio Cesar. Leaders AC Milan now have 39 points from 18 games, whereas Inter occupy 6th place with 26 points from 16 games.