Inter Milan breezed to a straightforward win over a disjointed Palace side at Selhurst Park last night with a goal in either half.
The Eagles started with a strong-looking line-up that included wantaway striker Andrew Johnson, as well as Selhurst debuntants Jon Macken, Darren Ward and Jobi McAnuff.
Inter kicked off with a side that included Brazilian striker Adriano and rising Nigerian star Obafemi Martins – and their class told from the kick-off.
Palace were on the back foot from the first whistle and Inter’s quick one-touch passing constantly scythed through the Eagles midfield to put the back-line under pressure.
Serbia and Montenegro international Dejan Stankovic was causing the home side all kinds of problems and, but for some profligate finishing followed by the intervention of the post, he would surely have put the Nerazzurri in front within ten minutes.
An audacious 50-yard lob from Stankovic then almost embarrased Palace keeper Gabor Kiraly, but the Hungarian scurried back to his line just in time to tip the ball over the bar.
An Inter goal was inevitable, however, and it came midway through the first half after a defensive mix-up enabled Martins to strike home a solid shot from ten yards.
The Eagles looked to be coming back into the game during the early stages of the second half, with the pace and touch of McAnuff particularly notable.
But, despite constant substitutions, Inter still had a stranglehold on the match and they extended their lead midway through the second period. Greek star Giorgios Karagounis hit a curling shot from the edge of the area that appeared to take a deflection as it left Kiraly rooted to his line.
That was the last action of the night for Kiraly as he was then replaced by Julian Speroni, who did well with the few saves he had to make during the rest of the match.
Palace’s best chance came towards the end of the game when substitute Sandor Torghelle found himself clean through on goal – only to be brought down by Inter keeper Julio Cesar.
The referee stuck with the friendly spirit of the match and showed only a yellow card and Ben Watson’s resulting free-kick was well saved by the keeper.