ROME - Inter Milan's Serbia midfielder Dejan Stankovic said he had a feeling Genoa goalkeeper Marco Amelia would give him a helping hand before he scored a stunning goal from the halfway line.

ROME - Inter Milan's Serbia midfielder Dejan Stankovic said he had a feeling Genoa goalkeeper Marco Amelia would give him a helping hand before he scored a stunning goal from the halfway line.

On the stroke of half-time in Saturday's Serie A tie, Italy goalkeeper Amelia came out of his area to launch the ball upfield.

But he scuffed his kick from the right and hooked the ball to Stankovic, out on the right-hand side, just inside the Genoa half, and the Serbia captain stretched out a leg, caught the ball on the volley and somehow directed it back into the goal after one bounce as Amelia chased hopelessly to try to get back into position.

And when asked about his wonder goal, Stankovic said he had a feeling Amelia would give him the ball.

"I went out to the right knowing the goalkeeper had messed up his clearance and then I just believed," he said.

The goal mirrored the match as everything Inter touched turned to gold, while Genoa were at sixes and sevens.

"We were almost perfect. In the first half we created many chances and scored three," said Stankovic.

"After the break we tried not to use up too much energy so we would last to the end of the game but we still scored.

"Winning 5-0 on Genoa's pitch is not a small thing but it's especially significant as we earned this result without having many scares in defence. We managed to do well even without important players such as (Diego) Milito, Thiago Motta and (Samuel) Eto'o."

This win leaves Inter in good health ahead of the visit of Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League today as they lead Serie A by two points. It continues Stankovic's own hot streak, having captained Serbia to World Cup qualification a week ago in a 5-0 home defeat of sorry Romania. - Sapa-AFP