It was tougher than expected, but Alexis Sanchez and a Hakan Calhanoglu allowed Inter to get the better of RB Salzburg and take a big step towards Champions League qualification.
The Nerazzurri were only one point ahead of their opponents going into this match, as the Austrians had beaten 10-man Benfica in Lisbon. Marko Arnautovic was still out of action, while Marcus Thuram and Nicolò Barella were rested. Salzburg missed Fernando, Sekou Koita, Bryan Okoh, Justim Omoregie, Kamil Piatkowski, Lukas Wallner and former Fiorentina defender Aleksa Terzic.
It was a strong start from the Austrians, as Oscar Gloukh’s angled drive forced a tricky one-handed Yann Sommer save in the opening four minutes.
However, Inter opened the scoring when Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s slide-rule pass went beyond Davide Frattesi and found Alexis Sanchez to sweep in with the inside of his right boot.
Dedic risked an own goal with his interception on the Denzel Dumfries ball across the face of goal, while Pavlovic crucially prevented a Benjamin Pavard knockdown reaching Frattesi on the Hakan Calhanoglu free kick.
Mkhitaryan came off at half-time as he was on a yellow card, while Carlos Augusto’s volley into the ground flashed wide.
However, RB Salzburg equalised with a well-worked team move, as it was laid off for Gloukh to sweep in from the edge of the area.
Frattesi was sandwiched between Lucas Gourna-Douath and Strahinja Pavlovic, leading to a penalty that Calhanoglu converted by drilling into the near bottom corner.
Lautaro Martinez had the ball in the net on 81 minutes after a well-worked move involving Marcus Thuram and Frattesi, but the Italian was offside.
Inter 2-1 RB Salzburg
Alexis Sanchez 19 (I), Gloukh 57 (S), Calhanoglu pen 64 (I)
Player statistic
| Alexis Sánchez (Assist: Davide Frattesi) |
 |
19' | ||
| 23' |  |
Roko Simic | ||
| Henrikh Mkhitaryan | |
28' | ||
| 29' | |
Lucas Gourna-Douath |
| 57' | |
Oscar Gloukh (Assist: Maurits Kjaergaard) | ||
| Hakan Calhanoglu |  |
64' |
Match statistic
