Twente hold Inter to draw in Champions League

By foxsports
Published

Defending champion Inter Milan came from behind to draw 2-2 with Champions League newcomer FC Twente on Tuesday.

Midfielder Wesley Sneijder tapped in a rebound after Twente goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov failed to hold on to Diego Milito's shot to put Inter ahead after 13 minutes. Theo Janssen equalized for Twente with a curling free kick in the 20th, then 10 minutes later Milito's own goal put Twente ahead.

Samuel Eto'o scored minutes before halftime to level for Inter and the scoring dried up, but Twente was still happy.

''A draw against Inter is a good result for us,'' said Twente coach Michel Preud'homme. ''We could have won the match. I think we should be satisfied with the way we played today.''

Theo Janssen engineered most of Twente's first-half assaults. Inter goalkeeper Julio Caesar was forced to make two saves in the opening minutes, keeping out efforts by Luuk de Jong and Marco Janko. Janssen set up both attempts.

Inter scored off its first attack, benefiting from Mihaylov's failure to deal with Milito's shot. Sneijder fired a well-placed shot that went past the stunned Bulgarian goalkeeper.

Despite scoring Inter's opening goal, Sneijder failed to sparkle as Twente clearly dominated proceedings in the first half.

Janssen's free kick teased past Inter's wall, swerving beyond a diving Caesar as Twente snatched an equalizer. Janssen almost made it 2-1 in the 28th when he hit another free kick from an identical position but Caesar dived to his left to deny the Twente midfielder.

Milito, attempting to defend Janssen's corner, headed into his own net to give Twente the advantage. Milito shook his head in disbelief after beating his own teammate, and could have made amends in the 32nd but his shot from 10 meters (yards) went wide.

Janko had a perfect chance to win the match for Twente in the 45th off Roberto Rosales' cross but his header went over the bar.

Eto'o found the net after playing a one-two with Goran Pandev, sending a low shot in from the edge of the area.