Serie A: Inter Milan 3 Cesena 2

Reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan scraped past lowly Cesena 3-2 in the Serie A on Wednesday to maintain their winning start under Leonardo.

All five goals at the San Siro came in the first half, with the European champions looking ominous early when strike duo Samuel Eto’o and Diego Milito scored in the opening 15 minutes.

Cesena fought back admirably when Erjon Bogdani pulled a goal back in the 23rd minute and Emanuele Giaccherini equalised shortly before to the half-hour mark.

Romanian defender Cristian Chivu restored Inter’s lead on the stroke of half-time, and they held on to clinch all three points after Giaccherini received his second yellow card in the 74th minute.

Inter moved into fourth place with the result, while Cesena remained in 17th place and outside the relegation zone by goal difference only.

The result also meant Inter kept its perfect record under new manager Leonardo intact, having won their fourth-straight league match under the guidance of the Brazilian.

Inter are six points behind league-leaders AC Milan, with Leonardo’s side having a game in hand on their city rivals.