Inter finally wins in Champions League; Chelsea beats FC Barcelona

LONDON (AP) _ Inter Milan finally won a game in the Champions League on Wednesday while Chelsea won another. <br/><br/>Inter scored its first goals in this year's competition, getting two from Julio

Wednesday, October 18th 2006, 10:17 pm

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ Inter Milan finally won a game in the Champions League on Wednesday while Chelsea won another.

Inter scored its first goals in this year's competition, getting two from Julio Cruz in a 2-1 victory over Spartak Moscow in Group B.

Didier Drogba had Chelsea's lone goal in the 47th minute, scoring from the edge of the penalty area to give the English Premier League champions a 1-0 decison over defending champion FC Barcelona. Chelsea is perfect with nine points in Group A, five more than the Spanish champions.

Also, it was: Werder Bremen 2, Levski Sofia 0 in Group A; Liverpool 1, Bordeaux 0, and PSV Eindhoven 2, Galatasaray 1 in Group C; and Valencia 2, Shakhtar Donetsk 0, and AS Roma 1, Olympiakos 0 in Group D.

Cruz scored two goals in the first nine minutes to give Inter a 2-0 lead. The first came in the second minute when his shot hit the underside of the bar and went into the net. Alvaro Recoba chipped a cross for Cruz to head in the other in the ninth. Denis Boyarintsev pulled a goal back for Spartak in the 54th.

Inter had lost to Sporting Lisbon and to Bayern Munich in its first two Champions League games.

Bastian Schweinsteiger put Bayern Munich ahead in the 19th minute with a 30-yard drive _ then was sent off in the 47th after picking up two yellow cards in two minutes. Both cautions were for challenges on Sporting striker Yannick Djalo.

Bayern has nine points, followed by Sporting with four, Inter with three and Spartak with one.

Chelsea and Barcelona continued their Champions League rivalry _ one packed with scandals, red cards and feuds.

Third-choice goalkeeper Hilario made his Chelsea debut because Petr Cech is recovering from surgery for a fractured skull and backup Carlo Cudicini is also sidelined with a head injury. He responded with two solid first-half saves.

Barcelona created few chances against a well-organized defense and Chelsea missed two more good chances.

Werder Bremen has four points in Group B after it beat Levski Sofia 2-0 off goals from Brazilians Diego and Naldo.

Liverpool striker Peter Crouch headed in the winner from Jamie Carragher's corner in the 58th to beat Bordeaux. Liverpool and PSV both have seven points in Group C, while Galatasaray and Bordeaux have one each.

In Group D, David Villa scored in the 31st and 45th minutes for Valencia. Villa took advantage of poor Shakhtar defending to go around goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa and roll the ball into the net.

Simone Perrotta slid in at the near post in the 76th to score the winner for AS Roma at Olympiakos. The Spanish team, which reached the final in 2000 and 2001, has nine points from three games. AS Roma has six points, while Olympiakos and Shakhtar have one each.