(Football news) Inter Milan defeated 10-man Porto 1-0 at San Siro. The result is a relief for Inter Milan because had they lost or drawn at home qualification would’ve been very difficult. The big takeaway from the team news was that Romelu Lukaku was on the bench. Inter Milan CEO Marotta claimed that Lukaku isn’t 100% fit which is why he is benched. Edin Dzeko partnered Lautaro Martinez up front. Marcelo Brozovic and Denzel Dumfries were also left on the bench. Porto started in a 4-2-3-1 but surprisingly Wendell didn’t make it to the starting line-up as Zaidu Sanusi was preferred at left back. 

Inter Milan were the dominant team right from the beginning. Lautaro Martinez had a free header at the very start but couldn’t hit the target. Towards the end of the half Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa made a really good save to keep it at 0-0. Porto themselves had a really good chance to take the lead but Andre Onana made a simple save. Porto had a massive chance in the 57th minute to score but Onana pulled off another save before the flag went up for offside. Lukaku replaced Edin Dzeko in the 58th minute and immediately started getting opportunities. The game changing moment came in the 78th minute when Otavio received a 2nd yellow card and was sent off. 

Inter took advantage of the extra man and finally broke the deadlock in the 86th minute. Romelu Lukaku headed Nicola Barella’s cross into the post but the Belgian waa there to slot the rebound home. Inter now have the advantage in the tie which is very important. They can now focus on cutting the gap on Napoli in the Serie A. They play Bologna, Lecce and Spezia before the return leg. It wasn’t the best performance from the Nerazzurri but it did the job.

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