Moscow, Oct 22: Inter Milan began the post-Hector Cuper era with a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Lokomotiv Moscow in a Champions League group B match.
Inter Milan lost their first points in their Champions League campaign this season, suffering a 3 - 0 thrashing by Lokomotiv Moscow in their group B match on Tuesday (October 21).
The Russians who had not scrapped a goal in their opening two Champions League matches, going down 2 - 0 at Dynamo Kiev and drawing 0 - 0 with Arsenal, hit for three against a disorientated Inter team. Barely 60 seconds into the match, Lokomotiv captain Dmitry Loskov surprised the visitors as he redirected Maxim Buznikins cross from the right wing. Georgia striker Mikheil Ashvetia and Russian international Dmitry Khokhlov completed the rout with two goals seven minutes apart shortly after the interval.


Lokomotiv manager Yuri Syomin said that scoring early was vital for the Russians' success.


"First of all we didn't go below the level of our previous games of the championship, first of all I am talking about the speed and energy of the players. And I think that our first goal, which we scored soon after the game began has helped us a lot, because Inter had to attack and we all know that Inter is much better in counterattacks. If the situation was the opposite, everything could have been different, we could have been in trouble," Syomin said.


It was Inter's first match since the firing of their Argentine coach Hector Cuper on Sunday. The Argentinian will be replaced by former AC Milan boss Alberto Zaccheroni after a poor run in Serie A.


Stand-in coach Corrado Verdelli was taking charge of the Italian team in Moscow and said Cuper's absence was not the main reason Inter had their 100 percent record in this season's competition.


"I can not say that the changes that happened recently in the team caused such a result. I think what caused this result more than anything else was our inaccuracy in the last phase and also mistakes we made. We let our opponents to do what they wanted today, especially in the centre of the field, where unexplainable losses of the ball had taken place several times. And our opponents moved around the field a lot and very fast. We tryed to show good socker, but our inaccuracy and mistakes lead us to this result."


Verdelli was pleased with the attack but said Inter failed to close the opposition and to capitalise from their chances.


"This team has a great potential forward. Tonight, the contribution from (Alvaro) Recoba has been important, it was great. We miss somebody in midfield and for sure the opposition come at us, we need a bigger effort from our midfielders and the wing backs must cover the spaces left open. In attacking terms, apart from the finishing, we have done well."


Inter still lead the group but were joined on six points by Dynamo Kiev. The Ukrainian champions beat Arsenal 2-1, leaving the English premier league club struggling to qualify for the knockout stages. Lokomotiv trail the joint leaders by two points.


GROUP B Lokomotiv Moscow 3 Inter Milan 0 Dynamo Kiev 2 Arsenal 1



P W D L F A Pts Inter Milan (Italy) 3 2 0 1 5 4 6 Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 3 2 0 1 5 3 6 Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) 3 1 1 1 3 2 4 Arsenal (England) 3 0 1 1 1 5 1


Previous reports: Wednesday, September 17 Arsenal 0 Inter Milan 3 Dynamo Kiev 2 Lokomotiv Moscow 0


Tuesday, September 30 Inter Milan 2 Dynamo Kiev 1 Lokomotiv Moscow 0 Arsenal 0


Remaining fixtures: Wednesday, November 5 Inter Milan v Lokomotiv Moscow Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev Tuesday, November 25 Lokomotiv Moscow v Dynamo Kiev Inter Milan v Arsenal Wednesday, December 10 Dynamo Kiev v Inter Milan Arsenal v Lokomotiv Moscow


Bureau Report