Gabriel "Gabigol" Barbosa began repaying his 30 million euro ($32 million) transfer fee by scoring his first goal for Inter Milan in a 1-0 win at Bologna on Sunday.
Seven minutes after coming on, Barbosa tapped in a cross from Danilo D'Ambrosio in the 81st minute to secure fourth-placed Inter its ninth win in 10 Serie A matches.
Barbosa had been hailed as the next great Brazil striker when he signed a five-year deal after transferring from Santos in August. But he struggled in his first five months at Inter.
"I'm happy for him. He had a bit of a tough time at the start. But now he's starting to click," Inter coach Stefano Pioli said.
Garbosa was preparing to offer his teammates and coaches a Brazilian dinner to celebrate his goal.
"The dinner is more than welcome," Pioli said.
With captain Mauro Icardi serving the second game of a two-match ban for dissent, Inter labored for long stretches.
Inter forward Rodrigo Palacio wasted a great chance directly in front of the goal 12 minutes in following a cross from Ivan Perisic.
But substitutions proved decisive and Inter has now scored 13 goals in the last 15 minutes of play this season — the most in Serie A.
"It's always a good sign for a coach when you have a squad that believes until the end," Pioli said. "We struggled between the lines and were slow maneuvering but we still worked hard. The team believed until the end and that perseverance paid off."
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CHIEVO VERONA 1, NAPOLI 3
Napoli bounced back from its Champions League loss at Real Madrid with a comfortable away win that extended its unbeaten streak in Serie A to 14 matches.
Lorenzo Insigne opened the scoring with an effort that improved on his goal in Madrid. After collecting the ball at the left side of the area, Insigne dribbled in and launched an angled shot around two defenders that flew inside the far post.
Napoli captain Marek Hamsik slotted another into an empty net and Piotr Zielinski made it 3-0 before the hour mark.
Riccardo Meggiorini pulled one back for Chievo midway through the second half.
Napoli moved into second place, one point ahead of Roma, which was facing Torino later.
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OTHER MATCHES:
Attack-minded Zdenek Zeman made an immediate impact on last-placed Pescara, which routed Genoa 5-0 in the Czech coach's first match back in charge since leading the club to the Serie B title five years ago.
Substitute Gregoire Defrel scored twice as Sassuolo came back from a goal down to beat Udinese 2-1 after Seko Fofana's spectacular volley had put the hosts ahead.
Also, Mauricio Isla gave Cagliari an early lead before Fabio Quagliarella equalized for Sampdoria midway through the first half in a 1-1 draw.