Inter held by Cypriot minnows

Anorthosis Famagusta 3 Internazionale 3

Some forgettable defending led to an electric night in Nicosia as Anorthosis Famagusta claimed a famous Champions League point against Internazionale.

Six errors led to six goals, and many more could have been punished, on the night which will have left Inter coach Jose Mourinho fuming.

Anorthosis goalkeeper Arjan Beqaj gifted the Italians the lead in the 13th minute, allowing Mario Balotelli to score, before a defensive calamity saw Inter return the favour with Cedric Bardon profiting on the half hour mark.

Fortunate circumstances saw both sides score another right at the end of the half through Marco Materazzi and substitute Giorgos Panagi.

Nikolaos Frousos gave the hosts a shock lead early in the second half but Inter snatched a deserved point thanks to Julio Cruz, who headed past a static Beqaj 10 minutes from time.

Victory would have assured Inter of a place in the knockout stages but they are still top of Group B, three points ahead of second-placed Anorthosis.

The Italians were soon in front after the Anorthosis defence struggled to deal with their pacy attack.

A dreadful mistake by Beqaj saw him palm Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 35-yard free-kick to the feet of Balotelli for a simple tap-in after 13 minutes.

Inter could have been further ahead in the 26th minute as once again poor defending saw a header fall to Dejan Stankovic who forced his way into the area before unleashing fierce shot that just sailed wide of the left post.

Anorthosis had not created anything for much of the night, posing little threat until Inter inexplicably gifted them the equaliser on the half-hour mark.

A long ball forward should not have caused any confusion as Julio Cesar rushed out to collect it, but unbelievable defending saw Nicolas Burdisso head it past his goalkeeper and a delighted Bardon, unable to believe his luck, rushed in to slot it home.

Goalkeeping errors seemed to be the theme of the night and Beqaj came close to copying his earlier mistake when he palmed away Ibrahimovic’s fierce punt to the feet of Balotelli but fortunately for him there was a white shirt on hand to clear the ball and spare his blushes.

Anorthosis were felled by Inter a fortnight ago when Adriano scored the only goal of the game a minute before half-time.

But they seemed not to have learnt from their mistakes as they again conceded 60 seconds from the break when Materazzi headed Balotelli’s corner through Beqaj’s legs and into the back of the net.

Replays showed that the goal should have been disallowed for a push on an Anorthosis defender but justice was served in injury-time as the Cypriots again equalised in somewhat fortunate circumstances.

A corner was nodded towards goal and the unfortunate Esteban Cambiasso saw his defensive header rocket off the back of Panagi’s head and into the back of the net for an equaliser which the substitute – who had only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes – knew little about.

Yet another glaring individual mistake saw Anorthosis take the lead five minutes into the second half.

Burdisso should have dealt easily with Bardon’s cross but instead Frousos managed to snatch the ball and fire it into the bottom left corner.

With the home crowd rocking Anorthosis could have even extended their lead in the 66th minute as Maicon failed to deal with Taher’s cross and the ball fell to Vincent Laban but Cesar managed to save at point-blank range.

Beqaj had looked vulnerable on many occasions throughout the match but he pulled off a stunning save to keep his side in front as he pushed away Ibrahimovic’s snap shot in the 76th minute.

But he was again at fault four minutes later as he stood still in his area making no effort whatsoever to save Cruz’s header from Balotelli’s free-kick.

Beqaj went some way to redeeming his dreadful performance with a wonderful save eight minutes from time when he somehow managed to claw Cambiasso’s header off the line.