5/16/2023–|Last update: 5/17/202301:48 AM (Mecca time)
Lautaro Martinez scored a goal near the end to lead Inter Milan to qualify for the Champions League final, after beating Milan 1-0.
Inter – who last won the title in 2010 – repeated its victory over AC Milan after winning 2-0 in the first leg of the semi-final.
Argentine Martinez fired into the narrow, difficult corner against Milan in the 74th minute, scoring the second winning goal in a week.
Goal for Inter!!!!!!!!!!! Argentine Lautaro Martinez, from inside the penalty area, hits his left foot to the right of goalkeeper Manian, and the crowd erupts in the stands!
Inter is very close to the final.#Champions League | #intermilan #beINUCL | #UCL pic.twitter.com/jZFiG7fumy
– beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) May 16, 2023
The match began with great pressure on Milan, who entered the grounds of the “Giuseppe Meazza” stadium, attacking in search of registration and compensation for the loss of the first leg against its neighbor and rival last week.
Inter, too, did not rely on its superiority in the first leg and tried to reach Mike Maynan’s net, hoping to kill Milan’s dreams with an early goal that would settle matters and avoid surprises for the team.
Milan’s attempts were clearly the most dangerous, as Andre Onana prevented an investigator’s goal opportunity in the 11th minute when he brilliantly blocked a ball that Ibrahim Diaz shot a few meters from the Inter goal.
In turn, Manian excelled in clearing a powerful header from Bosnian Eden Jericho, before Portuguese Rafael Liao broke through the right side of the Inter defense and hit Jawart’s ball at the left post with a few centimeters in the most dangerous opportunity of the match.
Rafael Leao nearly opened the scoring for Milan with a solo effort#Champions League | #intermilan#beINUCL | #UCL pic.twitter.com/bCv64uAuph
– beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) May 16, 2023
The second half was less enthusiastic, with Inter retreating in the final third and relying on defense in an organized manner. This made the task of reaching his goal very difficult for Milan, who waited until the 69th minute to threaten Onana with a header from Liao, and the Cameroonian goalkeeper did not find any difficulty in catching it.
Manian brilliantly saves Lautaro Martinez’s header#Champions League | #intermilan#beINUCL | #UCL pic.twitter.com/JMWcDKDJx7
– beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) May 16, 2023
Contrary to the course of the game, Inter succeeded in snatching the lead with a goal that came at the 74th minute, after a pass from the Belgian Romelu Lukaku to the Argentine Lautaro Martinez, who shot from inside the Milan penalty area to the right of Manian.
Inter continued its defensive organization in the remaining minutes, which did not help Milan to do anything new, amid some tension that marred the atmosphere after the violent intervention of Bosnian Rady Kronic on Turkish Hakan Calhanoglu.
Inter is waiting for the winner of today’s confrontation between Manchester City and Real Madrid, in the final, which will be held on the tenth of next June at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.