Lautaro Martinez scored a great goal and had a penalty saved before Antonio Candreva secured Inter’s 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund.
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Lautaro Martinez scored a great goal and had a penalty saved before Antonio Candreva secured Inter’s 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund.
Follow all the action as it happens from this game and RB Salzburg-Napoli on the LIVEBLOG.
This was a must-win game for the Nerazzurri, having managed only one point from the first two games, whereas the Germans had held Barcelona and won 2-0 away to Slavia Prague. Both sides had injury concerns, as Inter missed Alexis Sanchez, Stefano Sensi, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Matias Vecino, so Roberto Gagliardini came in. Mario Gotze was only fit for the Dortmund bench, but Marco Reus, Paco Alcacer and Marcel Schmelzer didn’t make the trip.
Nobody was ready to redirect an Antonio Candreva free kick that fizzed across the face of goal, but Inter broke through when Stefan de Vrij pushed forward and floated a great ball over the top for Lautaro Martinez to control and beat Burki sliding in from close range. It required a VAR check and was very tight, but onside.
Lautaro Martinez had penalty appeals waved away for a clumsy Akanji challenge that barged him over as he tried to get on a Candreva cross.
Borussia Dortmund thought they’d equalised with the last kick of the half when Jadon Sancho got away down the right and placed a snooker shot across the face of goal, but did not count on Samir Handanovic’s fingertip save.
After the restart, a good Inter passing move was concluded by Candreva firing over from just inside the box, but Handanovic was alert to readjust after Achraf Hakimi’s shot took a deflection off De Vrij.
Lautaro Martinez went close again, flicking the ball round a defender to burst into the box, then his shot deflected just wide.
There was general chaos to stop Thorgan Hazard tapping in at the end of a long move,
Sebastiano Esposito went on a rapid counter between two defenders and Hummels mistimed the tackle for a penalty. It was a great impact for the 17-year-old on his Champions League debut, but Lautaro Martinez fired his penalty low and central, allowing Burki to parry.
There was still time and as Borussia Dortmund poured forward, Inter added a second on the counter. Marcelo Brozovic timed his pass perfectly to send Candreva clear and blast into the near top corner one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
Inter 2-0 Borussia Dortmund
Lautaro Martinez 22 (I), Candreva 89 (I)
Inter: Handanovic; Godin, De Vrij, Skriniar; Candreva, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Barella, Asamoah (Biraghi 80); R Lukaku (Esposito 62), Lautaro Martinez (Borja Valero 90)
Borussia Dortmund: Bürki; Hakimi, Akanji (Bruun Larsen 74), Hummels, Schulz; Delaney (Dahoud 65), Witsel; Sancho, Brandt, T Hazard (Guerreiro 84); Weigl
Ref: Taylor (ENG)
Saved pen: Lautaro Martinez 83 (I)