Inter Milan are the first Italian side to win five major trophies in a single calendar year by beating TP Mazembe 3-0 in the Club World Cup final.
Two goals in the space of five minutes early in the first half from Goran Pandev and Samuel Eto'o - who shook off an injury to play - put Inter in control, and Jonathan Biabiany completed the scoring five minutes from time.
The victory will go some way to easing the pressure on Inter boss Rafael Benitez, who has underwhelmed since taking on the unenviable task of succeeding Jose Mourinho.
Inter add the Club World Cup crown to their Champions League, Serie A, Italian cup and European Super Cup titles, emulating the achievement of Barcelona last year. Inter also won the Italian Supercup in pre-season.
Mazembe, who had stunned Brazilian club Internacional to earn their place in the final, never threatened another upset.
Eto'o, who had been expected to miss the match, laid on the 13th-minute opener for Pandev with a defence-splitting pass, and then got on the end of a pass from the outstanding Javier Zanetti to grab the second.
Inter had further chances to finish off their Congolese opponents, but Diego Milito fluffed his lines after breaking the offside trip in the 24th minute and Muteba Kidiaba, who has enjoyed such a strong tournament, made the save.
The goalkeeper would deny Milito again just before half-time before Mazembe enjoyed their best chance, Dioko Kaluyituka's powerful shot being blocked by Ivan Cordoba.
In the second half, Maicon made a charging run only to see his shot strike the outside of the post.
Kaluyituka then had another chance to halve the deficit but while attempting to round Julio Cesar, he was forced wide and the angle became too acute.
He then forced a good save from Cesar with a strong volley, in what would prove to be Mazembe's final chance.
It was left to Inter to wrap things up, substitute Biabiany doing just that, timing his run superbly before beating Kidiaba.
No comments:
Post a Comment