Asllani completes Inter comeback with Monaco

Inter came back from 2-0 down to hold AS Monaco 2-2 in a pre-season friendly, with Roberto Gagliardini and Kristjan Asllani getting the goals.

It was a very shaky start for Simone Inzaghi’s men, who looked vulnerable on the counter-attack.

Kevin Volland immediately forced a save, then Caio Henrique’s strike from the edge of the box clipped the upright.

Samir Handanovic was eventually beaten after eight minutes when Wissam Bed Yedder’s pass sent Aleksandr Golovin clear one-on-one.

The second goal was a pure counter, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan was caught napping during an attack, sparking a Golovin move that resulted in a delightful Ben Yedder dink over Handanovic.

A desperate sliding tackle prevented Romelu Lukaku scoring on the counter, but from the resulting corner Danilo D’Ambrosio’s header was parried into the path of Roberto Gagliardini for 2-1.

It was almost 2-2 moments later, Lautaro Martinez volleying a Federico Dimarco cross onto the bar from close range.

Inter were sharper after the restart, going close several times with Lautaro Martinez, until the Argentine threaded through to send Lukaku running, he cut back past a defender and forced a desperate one-handed save, Asllani firing in the rebound to equalise.

Andrey Onana also impressed off the bench, making a double save to deny Takumi Minamino and Gelson Martins.

Hakan Calhanoglu’s volley flashed inches wide, hitting the side-netting on a Lukaku knockdown, while the Jean-Lucas free kick was deflected off target.

Inter 2-2 Monaco

Golovin 8 (M), Ben Yedder 30 (M), Gagliardini 41 (I), Asllani 59 (I)

Inter: Handanovic (Onana 60); Darmian, D’Ambrosio (De Vrij 60), Dimarco (Bastoni 60); Bellanova (Dumfries 60), Gagliardini (Barella 60), Asllani (Calhanoglu 60), Mkhitaryan (Brozovic 60), Gosens (Lazaro 46); Lukaku (Correa 60), Lautaro Martinez (Dzeko 60)

Monaco: Nubel; Disasi, Maripan, Badiashile, Vanderson; Matazo, Fofana; Caio Henrique, Volland, Golovin; Ben Yedder