SAMUEL Eto’o scored a cracking goal to give Inter Milan a 1-0 win at Cagliari yesterday and hit back at the racist chanters who had earlier held up the game.

The battling victory put champions Inter level on points with AC Milan, who beat Chievo 3-1 on Saturday and now play Real Madrid in Spain in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Juventus had a bad start to the season but are catching up after a 4-0 home win over Lecce sparked by Alberto Aquilani’s first goal for the club.

The former Liverpool and AS Roma midfielder fired in from 25 metres before Felipe Melo, booed by his own fans for much of last term, continued his renaissance with a cheeky penalty and Fabio Quagliarella nodded in on his knees just before the break.

Alessandro Del Piero scored a late fourth.

In the early game, Cameroon’s Eto’o took his Serie A tally to six goals from seven games this season and, like most of his recent efforts, the 39th-minute goal was a marvellous strike.

Inter’s Javier Zanetti is back from injury for Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Tottenham.

Eto’o’s strike was the perfect riposte to the Cagliari fans whose racist chants towards him caused the referee to suspend the game after three minutes of play. A public announcement was made asking fans to stop the chants, which they did for the rest of the match.

Roma, who play FC Basel on Tuesday in the Champion League, beat Genoa 2-1 on Saturday.