| Champions League: Inter get early winner against Spartak |
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| Wednesday, 01 November 2006 | |
 Julio Ricardo Cruz scored in the first minute Tuesday to lead Inter Milan to a 1-0 win over Spartak Moscow in the Champions League.
It was Cruz's third goal in two matches against Spartak. Inter beat Spartak 2-1 two weeks ago. Spartak defender Martin Stranzl failed to connect on a pass and Zlatan Ibrahimovic picked up the ball to move into the box down the right flank. His pass found the unmarked Cruz, who shot past goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski just 58 seconds into the game. "It was important to play a good round and to win today to put right our poor start to the group," said Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini. Inter lost its first two matches in the group to Sporting Lisbon and Bayern Munich without scoring a goal. After conceding the early goal, Spartak came close to equalizing in the 19th minute, but goalkeeper Julio Cesar saved a shot from Denis Boyarintsev down the left flank. Eight minutes later, Cesar fisted away Mozart's powerful shot from 25 meters (yards). Ibrahimovic missed a clear chance to make it 2-0 two minutes into the second half when his header off Luis Figo's cross shaved the left post. Spartak dominated the second half but could not penetrate a tough Inter defense. Roman Shishkin's powerful drive from 20 meters hit the crossbar in the 78th. Kowalewski made two saves in injury time, blocking shots from inside the box by Ibrahimovic and Dejan Stankovic. "We dominated in the second half and could have achieved a result, but Inter is a very experienced team and that was the main reason for the defeat," said Spartak coach Vladimir Fedotov. Severe traffic congestion in Moscow earlier forced Spartak to abandon their team bus and take the metro to the stadium. "Maybe the traffic jam was the reason for our sloppiness in the first minutes of the match. We arrived an hour behind schedule," Fedotov said. Inter now has six points after four matches in Group B. Spartak is last with one point. IHT
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