Relegation-threatened Catania shocked league leader Inter Milan
with a come-from-behind win at home after Inter substitute Sulley
Muntari gave away a penalty and was sent-off just two minutes after
coming on.
Inter opened the scoring shortly after halftime when Diego
Milito finished a flowing move involving Wesley Sneijder and Samuel
Eto'o. Sneijder released the Cameroonian behind the Catania defense
and he squared for Milito to shoot home.
However, his fellow Argentine Maxi Lopez equalized in the
74th, sweeping home Pablo Alvarez's cross at the near post. Inter
was reduced to 10 men when midfielder Muntari, who had replaced
Esteban Cambiasso, was sent off for handball and Catania captain
Giuseppe Mascara scored from the resulting penalty.
It was the Ghanaian's second yellow card and came after he
handled a freekick from Mascara.
Catania then made it three when Jorge Martinez cut in from
the left, beat Lucio and rounded Cesar to score.
Inter remains top with 59 points, four ahead of AC Milan,
which plays Chievo Verona on Sunday.
For Catania the win is an unexpected boost as it attempts to
avoid relegation and the Sicilian side is now eight points above
the relegation zone.
"It's a great feeling this win," Martinez said. "Inter scored
but somehow we found the spirit to recover and score three goals.
We have a special spirit, we have some excellent players and we
always felt we could win this game."
"Inter is the best team in the league but with the effort we
put in tonight we were able to cause their players problems,"
Martinez added.
