A late objective from substitute Marko Arnautovic gave Inter Milan a 1-0 dwelling victory after a troublesome battle with Atletico Madrid within the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
The Austria striker, who had changed the injured Marcus Thuram at halftime, redeemed himself following a number of missed probabilities by squeezing the ball dwelling after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was saved by goalkeeper Jan Oblak within the 79th minute. It was solely the second time the groups had performed one another, with Atletico successful 2-0 within the UEFA Super Cup again in 2010.
“It’s very satisfying. The lads were wonderful against a physical, technical side that did not make it at all easy,” Inter supervisor Simone Inzaghi advised Sky Sport Italia.
The return fixture is on March 13 within the Spanish capital. “We know this is only the first leg, the second match will be tough, and certainly there are regrets for the result considering with all that we created, we deserved a wider scoreline. This is football, we keep going,” Inzaghi added.
Inter wore black armbands as their followers at San Siro paid tribute to the membership’s former participant Germany World Cup-winner Andreas Brehme who handed away aged 63 earlier on Tuesday.
INTER DOMINANCE
Inter dominated the match and though Atletico had their probabilities the house facet’s stable defence prevented the guests from getting any makes an attempt heading in the right direction.
Samuel Lino had Atletico’s first alternative however his right-footed roller went simply huge of the far submit. Ahead of the interval Martinez and Thuram had openings to interrupt the impasse for Inter but in addition got here up in opposition to a resilient defence, with makes an attempt blocked or saved by Oblak.
Inter began the second half on the assault as Federico Dimarco equipped a cross to Arnautovic, who slid in barely late and ballooned the ball over from shut vary.
Just after the hour the house followers once more expressed their frustration as Arnautovic, having discovered himself free in entrance of objective, despatched one other effort over the crossbar earlier than the villain turned the hero of the night time along with his late successful objective.
“The third chance came after I missed a couple and I’m happy to have scored for the people who came here to cheer as well as for my team mates and for my family, who were here tonight,” Arnautovic advised Mediaset.
Despite the late win it was additionally an evening of concern for Inzaghi as Frenchman Thuram, a pivotal participant this season, was substituted at halftime, seemingly scuffling with a leg harm.
The 26-year-old has made a big contribution this time period with 12 objectives and 11 assists in all competitions. “He will have tests and we hope that we won’t lose him for long,” stated Inzaghi.
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
