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Your support makes all the difference.Christian Vieri continued his season–long scoring tear in Inter Milan's 1–0 win against Valencia last night in the first–leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Both sides played the last 33 minutes with 10 men after Inter's Turkish midfielder Emre Belozoglu and Valencia midfielder David Albelda were expelled for bumping chests.
In the 14th minute, Emre sent a cross from the left flank that Argentine striker Hernan Crespo deflected slightly toward Vieri, who banged the ball in with an authoritative header.
While it was only Vieri's second goal in this season's Champions League, it was his 26th overall, including his league–leading 24 goals in Serie A.
The burly power forward encouraged the San Siro crowd's celebrating by waving his arms up and down after he scored, and by holding his hand to his ear signaling he wanted even louder cheers.
As witnessed at several Inter matches this season, one fan held a banner aloft directed at the visitors reading: "You don't have Vieri."
The goal was occasion enough for Inter coach Hector Cuper to light up a cigarette, having gained an upper hand on his former club.
"We didn't give up any goals and we played a good first half," Vieri said. "It's a good victory, we'll go (to Valencia) hoping for a good result."
While controlling the ball well, Valencia struggled to produce scoring chances. In the 37th, Albelda's long, low shot was stopped by Inter goalkeeper Francesco Toldo. Two minutes after Emre and Albelda were sent off, Valencia's Francisco Rufete saw his attempt sail just wide.
In an attempt at being awarded a penalty kick, Argentine midfielder Pablo Aimar fell to the ground in Inter's area in second–half injury time but, not having been touched by a defender, was shown a yellow card instead.
Inter defender Francesco Coco pulled a right thigh muscle during a hard tackle in the 28th and was substituted by Giovanni Pasquale.
Cuper started Vieri alongside Crespo in attack, the first time Crespo played since severely injuring his thigh in January. Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba never left the bench after completing a three–match suspension from the competition for a hard foul.
Crespo played 84 minutes before being replaced by defender Fabio Cannavaro. "He's still missing something," Cuper said of Crespo. "But he did great work at taking the ball away tonight, really helped the defense."
The game was the second of three consecutive matches in seven days against top–caliber clubs for Inter, all at San Siro. On Sunday night, Inter squandered a two–goal lead and drew 3–3 with AS Roma and on Saturday, Cuper's club faces AC Milan in the city's derby match. The return leg with Valencia is scheduled for April 22 in Spain.
Internazionale: Toldo; Zanetti, Materazzi, Cordoba, Coco (Pasquale, 31); Sergio Conceicão (Okan Buruk, 66), Zanetti, Di Biagio, Emre Belozoglu; Vieri, Crespo (Cannavaro, 83). Substitutes not used: Fontana (gk), Adani, Recoba, Martins.
Valencia: Cañizares; Reveillère, Ayala, Marchena, Carboni; Rufete (Mista, 79), Albelda, Baraja, Aimar, Vicente (Fabio Aurelio, 83); Carew (Angulo, 20). Substitutes not used: Palop (gk), Djukic, De los Santos, Sanchez.
Referee: M Merk (Germany).
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