Milan – Inter Milan eased to a 3-1 victory at home to Genoa in Serie A on Sunday as Roberto Mancini’s team continued its impressive start to the year.
Armando Izzo gave Genoa hope of a comeback when he pulled one back with five minutes remaining after first-half goals from Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi.
However, Nemanja Vidic scored his first goal for Inter to make sure of the points.
Inter moved up to eighth, ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures, while Genoa was sixth.
Roma plays Lazio in the capital derby later, before Serie A leader Juventus visits Napoli.
Inter had boosted its squad with the acquisitions of Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri and confidence was also at a high following a 1-1 draw against Juventus.
Podolski was given his first start while Shaqiri was on the bench.
Former Genoa striker Palacio gave Inter the lead in the 12th minute, rushing in to nudge home the rebound after Icardi’s acrobatic effort had been saved by Mattia Perin.
Icardi doubled Inter’s advantage shortly before halftime with a glancing header from a corner.
Genoa piled on the pressure after the break, forcing several saves out of Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, and was unlucky not to reduce the deficit when Maxime Lestienne’s volley crashed back off the crossbar.
Izzo scored his first Serie A goal when he tapped in a rebound after Handanovic had denied Tino Costa but any hope of a comeback was quashed three minutes later when Vidic headed in Podolski’s corner. – Sapa-AP