(Football news) Inter scored twice in the second half through Nicolo Barella and a Romelu Lukaku penalty for a 2-0 win over Benfica in their Champions League quarter final first leg. Inter are on course for a first semifinal appearance since they won the treble in 2010. Barella gave the Italian side a deserved lead when he headed home at the back post in the 51st minute after he was unchallenged to get on the end of a inch perfect cross from Alessandro Bastoni.

Then substitute Romelu Lukaku converted a 82nd minute penalty after a long VAR review as Joao Mario was punished for handling the ball in the penalty box, Michael Oliver gave the penalty after looking at the video monitor. The two goals have handed Inter a major advantage for next Wednesday for the 2nd leg at the San Siro. If they qualify for the semi finals then it will be an all-Italian semifinal against either neighbours AC Milan or Napoli.

Barella exposed Benfica’s defence, but the penalty which they earned was a bit unfortunate as a Denzel Dumfries cross hit Joao Mario’s arm inside the box. But overall Inter deserved the victory as they conjured up much better chances with Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos making important saves to deny Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Dumfries. Inter beat Porto in the round of 16 with a defensively great performance as they repeated the same against Benfica’s potent attack

It was playmaker Rafa Silva who got the first shot on target when he fired straight at IAndre Onana. Joao Mario’s cross across the goal wasn’t met by anyone before Inter created their first chance as a powerful long-range shot by Francesco Acerbi just missed the target. The hosts might have equalised but Dumfries blocked a shot of Rafa Silva as Benfica’s looked to sweep home a dangerous cross from Joao Mario. Lukaku put the final nail in the coffin with a precise penalty which put Inter firmly in the driving. Onana then went on to make a vital stop to deny Goncalo Ramos a goal in the final minute of the match.

“Yes, yes, I understand the reasons [for being on the bench] because of my previous performances, but I just have to look ahead and try to help the team as much as possible,” Lukaku told reporters.

“I’m getting back in shape, I’m giving a lot to the team, but everyone else is doing it too. We have a responsibility to do well for the club, now we need to do well in the league at the weekend to have the right confidence for the second leg.”

Also read: Manchester City thrash Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter final