| Inter fought back from 1-0 down in Moscow to defeat CSKA 2-1 thanks to a comical howler on Walter Samuel's winning header.
The Nerazzurri were buoyed by their 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven, but in that tie picked up more bans for David Suazo and Cristian Chivu. They joined Nicolas Burdisso on the sidelines, but Julio Cruz and Ivan Cordoba were once again available. Marco Materazzi remained injured and CSKA had to do without star striker Vagner Love.
Luis Figo became the sixth player to make 100 appearances in the Champions League.
CSKA got off to a confident start with a corner kick after 14 seconds and Julio Cesar needed two touches to control a powerful Daniel Carvalho free kick. The Brazilian forward was making his continental comeback after seven months out with a knee injury.
There was another heavy blow for Roberto Mancini when Patrick Vieira limped off after just 17 minutes with a new injury to his calf muscle, making way for a Dejan Stankovic who was also not 100 per cent fit.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic fought off flu symptoms to start and couldn't quite get on the end of a Figo low cross.
CSKA really should have taken the lead on the half-hour mark. Figo was shrugged off the ball at the byline and Dudu incredibly fired wide from six yards!
The celebration was only delayed by a few moments, as Jo resisted a Cordoba challenge and lobbed Julio Cesar into the far top corner with the inside of his right foot.
Seconds later Maxwell had to close down Carvalho as he charged into the box, while at the other end Hernan Crespo volleyed a long cross on to the side-netting.
Inter had a fantastic opportunity when Crespo touched on a Figo cross for Ibrahimovic's diving header and a spectacular save from Veniamin Mandrykin, but it wouldn't have counted as the Swede was offside.
Evgeni Aldonin sprinted past Walter Samuel and almost sent Julio Cesar the wrong way, but the shot was weak enough for the Brazilian to recover.
Dudu had to go off for an ankle injury and was replaced by another young Brazilian, Eduardo. Moments later Moscow also lost Aleksei Berezutski, as Figo was booked for a horrible tackle that left a gaping hole in the Russian's shin.
The Nerazzurri almost benefited from an own goal, as a headed deflection on Ibrahimovic's cross nearly looped over the 'keeper with Crespo waiting to pounce.
After the restart Esteban Cambiasso's shot was deflected out for a corner and as the set-piece was not cleared effectively, Crespo sprung the offside trap on a poor Milos Krasic touch to smash a right-foot finish into the far bottom corner.
Moments later it was almost 1-2, as Ibrahimovic's header back across the face of goal caught Stankovic off guard and he failed to make contact on it from six yards.
CSKA also threatened with Elvir Rahimic left unmarked to skim a free kick and Julio Cesar was able to recover.
Ibrahimovic wasted a golden opportunity on 57 minutes. Inter had moved well to get Stankovic's cross and after it went past Crespo, Ibra was totally clear at the back post, but rushed his finish and blasted over from point-blank range.
Carvalho was booked for simulation as he tried to run between four defenders and some poor defending handed Krasic a chance to score. Mancini's second substitution was a tactical choice, taking Crespo off for Julio Cruz.
Stankovic fired a touched-on free kick over from distance and Cruz's glancing header went wide, but a Jo effort was deflected on to the side-netting as he spun round in the area.
Surprisingly, CSKA opted to replace the substitute with Dawid Janczyk in an attacking change for the final 15 minutes. The Russians were confident and Olivier Dacourt nodded a dangerous header away from danger with Julio Cesar stranded, so Santiago Solari replaced Dacourt to take advantage of the extra space.
Inter were given a real stroke of luck to take the lead thanks to a disastrous howler from goalkeeper Mandrykin. A Figo free kick found Walter Samuel's downward header, but perhaps it took a strange bounce off the turf, as it incredibly squirmed off his glove to enter the net.
Julio Cesar avoided similar embarrassment 60 seconds later, palming a Carvalho snapshot over the bar with some difficulty. Inter almost got a third with another ricochet, this time both Ibrahimovic and Stankovic couldn't get the decisive prod past Mandrykin.
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