Marko Arnautovic gave Inter Milan a single-goal advantage in their Champions League last-16 tie with Atletico Madrid after netting the only goal in Tuesday’s hard-fought 1-0 win.
Austria striker Arnautovic rammed home Inter’s winner with
11 minutes left at the San Siro after Jan Oblak failed to hold Lautaro
Martinez’s shot.
The 34-year-old turned jeers into deafening cheers with his
goal, which came after a series of missed opportunities left home fans
wondering whether Inter would get the win their performance deserved.
His worst miss came just after the hour mark as he ballooned
over a sitter, a dreadful finish which came before and after failed attempts to
latch on to promising balls.
Arnautovic has had a hard time since returning to Inter on
loan from Bologna last summer and those misses further frustrated supporters.
However, thanks to him Simone Inzaghi’s side now take a
slender lead to Madrid, where they will face Atletico in the decisive second
leg on March 13.
Atletico have been a more attacking proposition this season
but retreated into the dogged defensive mode more representative of Diego
Simeone’s long reign in Spain.
But they could not keep Inter out and now have to overturn
Tuesday’s result in order to reach the quarter-finals.
AFP