Internazionale 5-3 Palermo

Inter Milan moved four points clear at the top of Serie A after winning an eight-goal thriller against Palermo tonight.
The game seemed to be all wrapped up when two goals each from Samuel Eto'o and Mario Balotelli gave Inter a 4-0 lead at the interval, but Palermo fought their way back to put the Nerazzurri under pressure.

Fabrizio Miccoli scored twice, and Mathias Hernandez was on target as Palermo threatened to make an amazing comeback. But Diego Milito added a fifth for Inter in the 83rd minute to seal a win which moves them clear of Juventus at the top of the table.

The goalscoring began in the seventh minute, Eto'o putting Inter ahead from the penalty spot.

Balotelli earned the penalty when he went down under pressure from three Palermo defenders - and he wanted to take the spot-kick himself and had to be dragged away by Inter captain Javier Zanetti.

The young Inter striker was not amused, but the player who has been much maligned for demonstrating an immature character in the past gave precisely the kind of reaction coach Jose Mourinho has been looking for.

He should have scored in the 21st minute when he met Esteban Cambiasso's cross with his head five yards from goal - but put the ball wide.

He made up for that miss by scoring Inter's second after 34 minutes, heading Maicon's corner unstoppably past Salvatore Sirigu at the near post.

The Italy Under-21s striker grabbed his second two minutes before half-time to put a rampant Inter three ahead. Palermo struggled to clear their lines, and Cambiasso took advantage of some confused defending to touch the ball towards goal - where Balotelli made sure the ball crossed the line.

Eto'o added a fourth within 60 seconds, after Balotelli made a determined run to the goalline and passed the ball back to the Cameroonian striker - who threaded his shot inside Sirigu's near post.

Palermo coach Walter Zenga's half-time team talk was followed by an unexpected transformation.

Miccoli scored Palermo's first four minutes into the second half when he stole in between Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba to lift the ball over Julio Cesar and then follow the ball in to make sure it crossed the line.

Substitute Hernandez scored his first goal in Italian football three minutes later when he put the finish to a fine team move, tapping in Miccoli's volleyed cross from the right.

Miccoli's second in the 67th minute gave Palermo belief in an extraordinary comeback. Javier Pastore fooled the Inter defence, looking one way before sending a perfect pass through to Miccoli - who beat the offside trap and lifted the ball over Julio Cesar again into the far corner.

But Milito settled Inter's nerves when he was given a simple tap-in from Maicon's cross to ensure Inter, whose win seemed so certain after 45 minutes, managed to pick up all three points after all.

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