Late Arnautovic strike gives Inter first leg win over Atletico

A late goal from substitute Marko Arnautovic gave Inter Milan a 1-0 home victory after a tough battle with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday night.

The Austria striker, who had replaced the injured Marcus Thuram at half time, redeemed himself after several missed chances by squeezing the ball home after Lautaro Martinez's shot was saved by goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 79th minute.

It was only the second time the teams had played each other, with Atletico winning 2-0 in the Uefa Super Cup back in 2010.

“It’s very satisfying. The lads were wonderful against a physical, technical side that did not make it at all easy,” Inter manager Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.

The return fixture is on March 13 in 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.”

Inter wore black armbands as their fans at San Siro paid tribute to the club's former player, Germany World Cup-winner Andreas Brehme, who died aged 63 earlier on Tuesday.

Inter dominated the match and though Atletico had their chances the home side's solid defence prevented the visitors from getting any attempts on target.

Just after the hour the home fans expressed their frustration as Arnautovic, having found himself free in front of goal, sent another effort over the crossbar before the villain became the hero of the night with his late winning goal.

Despite the late win it was also a night of concern for Inzaghi as Frenchman Thuram, a pivotal player this season, was substituted at halftime, seemingly struggling with a leg injury.

The 26-year-old has made a significant contribution this term with 12 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.

“He will have tests and we hope that we won’t lose him for long,” Inzaghi said.

Donyell Malen scored a superb goal against his former side but a second-half penalty from Luuk de Jong earned a 1-1 draw for PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their first leg match against Borussia Dortmund at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday night.

Dutch international Malen rifled in a thunderous shot from a tight angle after 24 minutes but the home side created the better chances and finally took one when De Jong scored from a spot-kick, awarded for a foul by Dortmund defender Mats Hummels.

That goal stretches PSV's unbeaten home run to 31 games in all competitions and leaves the tie evenly poised with the return leg in Dortmund to come on March 13.

“We should have brought much more calmness to the game,” Hummels told Amazon Prime. “We let the heated atmosphere get to us too much. I saw a very beatable Eindhoven today.

“We were not good enough with the ball. In our home game, we simply need to play better with the ball. Then, I am very confident we will progress.”

The match was PSV's first Champions League knockout tie in eight seasons as they bid to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign.

Dortmund took the lead with a wonderful strike from Malen, who had four successful years at PSV before moving to the Bundesliga in 2021.

Malen appeared to be crowded out by two home defenders but managed to get a powerful shot away from 14 yards which took a slight deflection and beat keeper Walter Benitez as it went in off the crossbar.

PSV were awarded a penalty by referee Srdjan Jovanovic early in the second half when Hummels lunged in on Tillman. The defender got a healthy touch to the ball before making contact with the German-born US international, but the VAR confirmed the on-field decision, much to the visitors’ dismay.

De Jong easily finished from 12 yards to create a small bit of club history as in doing so he overtook Ruud van Nistelrooy as PSV’s leading scorer in the Champions League with nine goals. 

Reuters