Lille vs. Inter Milan: One Goal Enough to See Italians Go to Top of CL Group

Vestigial imprints still remain within this current Inter Milan from the Jose Mourinho era.

They may be awfully slight at times—one wonders what measures the Special One would undertake if one of his sides ever began a domestic season as poorly as Inter have in Serie A (one victory in six matches, including a 2-1 loss Sunday to Catania)—but there are definite traces that never look likely to fade.

Despite providing very little in the way of attacking industry through the first portion of Tuesday's Champions League group stage match against Lille, the away Nerazurri scrounged around for—and found in the forms of Wesley Sneijder and Giampolo Pazzini—a piece of genuine class that shook northern France to its core.

A superb bit of link-up play from Sneijder on the periphery of the Lille penalty area saw the Dutch No. 10 play Mauricio Zarate in behind the defense. Collecting the ball at the touchline's edge, Zarate lofted a ball back toward the top of the penalty area that Sneijder feinted interest in, only to cede to an onrushing Pazzini, who smashed a Cantona-esque volley home past to grab a lead at 1-0.

Lille had dominated the first 20 minutes, but Inter were ahead. You could have substituted Samuel Eto'o in for Pazzini, and Stamford Bridge for the Stade Lille Métropole—a reference to that impressive Mourinho-led away win (also 1-0) 19 months ago in the Champions League Round of 16.

Tuesday's performance showed that this current side, now led by Claudio Ranieri, still has the talent required to win the important matches.

Pazzini's goal would prove to be all the scoring the Italians would need, as they labored to a narrow victory over a disappointing host side in what was Lille's second-ever home defeat in Champions League play.

Inter fired to first place in the group standings with six points from three matches. They are two points clear of second-place CSKA Moscow, who dispatched Trabzonspor 3-0. Lille now slump to two points on three matches, good for last in the standings.

Lille enjoyed 62 percent of the game's possession, but much of it was bandied about the periphery of the attacking third, proving insignificant in the end. Though they had some excellent chances, a superb Julio Cesar ensured that a clean sheet was kept.

The Brazilian shot-stopper was immense, saving efforts from Eden Hazard, Dimitri Payet, and Mathieu Debuchy. A last-gasp tackle from Brazilian defender Lucio prevented Florent Balmont from getting his own equalizer. It was last-ditch defending at times, and it certainly wasn't pretty. But it was effective.

Something Mourinho would surely be proud of.