Match report: Inter 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Dave Hytner is at the San Siro for the Guardian and you can read his musings here ...
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Mauricio Pochettino speaks ...
On his team’s effort tonight: “I think I am happy with the performance,” he tells BT Sport. But of course it was so cruel, because I think the team deserved more. I think it’s the best performance we had since the beginning of the season. It’s annoying, because the players deserved more and the team deserved more.”
On conceding from another set-piece: “These things happen in football,” he says. “I believe you can only fix that by working. We cannot say it’s bad luck - in isolation we made a mistake and we paid, we got punished. And we are getting punished a lot at the moment because we are in a bad place. In this negative period, the most important thing is to remain calm and figure out the best way to bounce back. Against Brighton we have another opportunity to try to win.”|
Elsewhere in Group B: Barcelona have beaten PSV Eindhoven 4-0 at the Camp Nou, where Leo Messi scored a hat-trick, Ousmane Dembele got the other and Samuel Umtiti’s dismissal meant Barca finished with 10 men.
Spurs lose again: For the first time since Mauricio Pochettino took over at Spurs, his side have lost three consecutive games. In the BT Sport studio, the Big Finger of Blame is being pointed at Lucas Moura, who abandoned his post and was heading up the pitch as De Vrij’s header from deep was heading towards Matias Vecino.
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Sometimes that whole Pazza Inter thing cuts both ways. I'm not sure there was any real logic to this one. A sensational individual goal by Icardi, a mood change in a full stadium and a nervous Tottenham team that has problems at set-pieces. Huge win for Inter.
— Paolo Bandini (@Paolo_Bandini) September 18, 2018
Full-time: Inter 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep! The referee blows for full time, bringing a crazy game to an end. Spurs looked comfortable with a one-goal lead and Inter meandering towards defeat, only to have the rug pulled out from under them in the closing stages as Inter equalised with a sensational goal, before stealing all three points with a soft one deep in the knockings.
90+3 min: Spurs can’t believe what’s happening here. Inter won a corner, which was swung deep into the penalty area. Stefan De Vrij headed it into the mixer and Matias Vecina rose, unmarked, on the edge of the six-yard box to head past Vorm. The Spurs goalkeeper was helpless and rooted to the spot.
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GOAL! Inter 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Vecino 90+2)
UNBELIEVABLE SCENES!!! Vecino heads past Vorm from the edge of the six-yard box to give Inter the lead deep in added time.
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90+2 min: Candreva goes close for Inter, then wins a corner for them moments later as they lay siege to the Tottenham goal.
90 min: This game looked completely over as a contest until Icardi scored out of nowhere. Now Inter tails are up and they’re going in search of a winner. Borja crosses for Icardi after a fancy soft-shoe shuffle in the penalty area, but the striker is unable to convert with his attempted round-house kick.
89 min: Inter substitution: Radja Nainggolan off, Borja Valero on. Tottenham substitution: Harry Kane off, Danny Rose on.
87 min: A sensational goal from a striker who had done little or nothing all night. Asamoah crossed from the left flank and the ball dropped for Icardi a couple of yards outside the Tottenham penalty area. With perfect technique, he smashed a right-footed volley through the penalty area and into the bottom left-hand corner. That’s a sensational strike.
GOAL! Inter 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Icardi 86)
Wow! Out of nowhere, Inter equalise with a stunning goal from Mauro Icardo, who volleys home from a couple of yards outside the penalty area.
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83 min: Inter launch another attack, but Nainggolan’s attempted chip towards Icardi is woeful. It sails through to Vorm, who gathers gratefully. Inter are seriously lacking a cutting edge and don’t even look fit enough to adhere to their manager’s preferred script. Lucas Moura, for example, has been wreaking havoc down the left since coming on.
81 min: Candreva, the substitute, tries to curl the ball past Michel Vorm from the right-hand side of the penalty area, but watches his effort sail wide of the upright.
80 min: A voice on the tannoy reminds Tottenham’s 2,000 travelling 2,000 to remain behind after the final whistle.
More from our Italian correspondent, as the game goes into wind-down mode with not a great deal happening.
The season is young, and, who knows, maybe there is even a twist yet in this game. But there are troubling signs for me with Spalletti (who just got a new €4.5m per year contract...). Even he has said the club gave him all he wanted in the transfer window
— Paolo Bandini (@Paolo_Bandini) September 18, 2018
77 min: Inter look visibly tired and are affording Spurs lots of time on the ball. They lose it momentarily, as Harry Winks is penalised for offside as he tries to chae a ball from deep down the inside right channel.
73 min: Inter substitution: Keita Balde on for Politano. Spurs substitution: Lamela off for Harry Winks. Further to Paolo’s tweet, Luciano Spalletti has now removed Inter’s two most potent attackers ... with his side trailing 1-0 and just 17 minutes left on the clock.
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70 min: Tottenham string about 25 consecutive passes together, before Lucas Moura plays Lamela in behind down the inside left. He’s unable to score from a tight angle and Handanovic saves at his near post.
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68 min: The match has opened up to a ridiculous level and is very entertaining. Lucas Moura has looked a real threat since coming on and on this occasion, gallops into the Inter penalty area and tries to find room to shoot. The ball eventually comes to Lamela, who brings a save out of Handanovic.
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Withdrawing the only attacking player who has actually played well this season when 1-0 down with 25 minutes to go is certainly an ... unorthodox choice from Spalletti.
— Paolo Bandini (@Paolo_Bandini) September 18, 2018
64 min: Tottenham substitution: Son off, Lucas Moura on. Inter substitution: Ivan Perisic off, Antonio Candreva on. With Spurs now in the ascendency, they send on Moura to further stretch Inter with his blistering pace.
61 min: Serge Aurier picks out Lamela on the edge of the Inter penalty area. His low drive is saved by Handanovic, while Kane has to stretch to try and follow up. Son eventually gets the ball in the net, but is penalised for offside.
61 min: Inter win a free-kick a good way out, which Politano sends into the Spurs penalty area. Ben Davies hacks the ball out for a corner, from which Inter are unable to create an kind of scoring opportunity.
59 min: Spurs win a corner, which Christian Eriksen sends arrowing towards the near post. Mauro Icardi heads clear.
56 min: Vorm saves from an Ivan Perisic header, moments after Erik Lamela had gone close with another deflected shot. On that occasion, Stefan De Vrij was luckier than his partner in the heart of Inter’s defence.
54 min: Having begun the second half with far more intensity than they did the first, Spurs have a lead that is no more than they deserve. Eriksen picked up the ball about 20 yards from goal and struck a low drive that Handanovic threw hiself to his right to parry. The ball fell for Eriksen again and his second effort deflected off Miranda and looped into the air with a ferocious spin on it. Handanovic, on his feet again and with his arm outstretched, got a finger to it but was unable to prevent the ball dropping under the cross-bar.
GOAL! Inter 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Eriksen 53)
Christian Eriksen opens the scoring with a deflected shot that sends the ball looping over the outstretched hand of Handanovic and drops in under the cross-bar.
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50 min: Jan Vertonghen is booked for a foul on Icardi, giving Inter a free-kick about 40 yards from the Spurs goal. Brozovic and Politano try a training-ground move with the former playing the latter in on the right. He’s unable to keep the ball in play and get a cross in.
49 min: Brozovic plays and up-and-under over the Spurs defence, for Perisic to run on to. Serge Aurier gets back quickly to put him off his stride and Perisic fouls him. Moments previously, Kane had tried to play Lamela in behind, but the Argentinian was flagged for offside.
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47 min: Matteo Politano curls a shot from distance well wide after picking up a good pass from Radja Nainggolan. He seems convinced it took a deflection and demands a corner, but none is forthcoming. Replays suggest he was deluding himself.
47 min: Inter central defender Stefan De Vrij clears calmly under pressure, earning himself a warm round of applause from the San Siro hordes.
Second half: Inter 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
46 min: Play resumes, with no changes in personnel on either side. The consensus in the BT Sport studio seems to be that Spurs are playing poorly, but Inter are there for the taking.
Meanwhile at the Camp Nou: Barcelona lead PSV 1-0 at half-time in Group B’s other game, courtesy of a 32nd minute Lionel Messi free-kick.
From our Italian correspondent ...
Inter have been good. Better than I expected. But the lack of a player who can unpick a defence with subtlety, rather than strength, through the middle is evident - just as it has been in the league. They've won plenty of ball in good places, just don't know what to do with it.
— Paolo Bandini (@Paolo_Bandini) September 18, 2018
Meanwhile in the BT Sport studio, Owen Hargreaves, Glenn Hoddle and Jermaine Jenas are agog at how poor Spurs have been when it comes to pressing Inter. “They’re not hunting in packs and when it’s just one on one, good footballers will just play through you,” says Glenn Hoddle.
Half-time: Inter 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur
The sides go in for the break with the deadlock unbroken. Spurs were pretty poor for the first 35 minutes, but have grown into the game. They’ve had the best chance of the half, but Harry Kane couldn’t convert a few minutes ago. That aside, they’ve largely been over-run in midfield and seem incapable of playing it out from the back without giving it away. They’ve got away with it so far, but it’s surely only a matter of time before their largesse is punished.
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44 min: Free-kick for Tottenham for a Perisic foul on Aurier that earns the Croatian a booking. Lamela sends the ball into the penalty area, where Kane is penalised for a high boot.
43 min: Better from Spurs, who create another good chance. A cross from Aurier looks to be headed Kane’s way until Handanovic intercepts.
40 min: As I was peddling conspiracy theories, Davinson Sanchez was booked for a foul on Nainggolan. The ensuing free-kick went out for a corner, which is sent deep. Vorm gathered.
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39 min: Curiously, a grimacing Kane hopped up and down on one leg after missing that chance, with the air about him of a man who might be nursing a sore ankle. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it because it suits the came-back-too-soon-from-injury-last-April narrative, but he definitely looked in pain to me.
37 min: Harry Kane misses the kind of chance you’d expect him to score in his sleep. Picking up a glorious dinked ball into penalty area from Eriksen, his first touch is sublime and gives him a yard of space from which to lift the ball over Handanovic. Instead, he attempts to take the ball around the keeper and slot in from a tight angle, but succeeds only in running it out of play.
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35 min: Now Vertonghen messes up a clearance and Nainggolan gets a cross in. Sanchez blocks the subsequent shot by Brozovic.
34 min: Michel Vorm and Jan Vertonghen combine in an attempt to play the ball out from the back and before you know it, the centre-half has given the ball to Marcelo Brozovic. Spurs are playing hideously badly, here ... but they’re getting away with it so far.
One of these teams looks like it has not played Champions League football for seven years. And it’s not Inter Milan.
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewin_) September 18, 2018
30 min: Inter have dominated the opening half-hour, but Spurs have been their own worst enemies here. Not content with repeatedly gifting possession to their hosts, Inter’s best chance has come from a hapless Davinson Sanchez almost heading past his own keeper.
28 min: Spurs win a corner, but waste it when Harry Kane is penalised for shoving his man as the ball arced into the area.
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26 min: Assorted Tottenham players continue to give the ball away in midfield and they’re almost made to pay for it. Perisic takes the ball out wide on the left and sends in a cross. Davinson Sanchez gets his head to it and almost flicks the ball into his own net, only for Vorm to spare his blushes by stretching and getting a fist to the ball.
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24 min: Michel Vorm gets the ball at his feet, prompting Spurs’ two centre-backs to split and their two full-back to advance up the field. Vorm, Vertonghen and Sanchez pass the ball to and fro between them, with Icardo applying a bit of pressure, then Vertonghen plays it forward to Eriksen ... who immediately gives it away.
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21 min: Inter right-back Milan Skriniar is booked for a block on Son, a foul which earns Spurs a free-kick in line with the left edge of the Inter penalty area. Eriksen whips the ball into the penalty area, where Ben Davies sends a looping header into the arms of Samir Handanovic.
20 min: From 40 yards out, Matteo Politano curls the ball across the corridor of uncertainty, but the high defensive line set up by Spurs helps ensure it bounces harmlessly out of play.
19 min: Nainggolan goes down holding his shin after a rash challenge from Davies. Free-kick for Inter in the middle of the pitch.
18 min: Aurier helps Spurs win their first corner of the game, but nothing comes of it.
16 min: Michel Vorm rolls the ball to Jan Vertonghen in the left-back position and, under very little pressure, he immediately plays a low, 20-metre pass to an opposition player. Spurs are really struggling in their attempts to play the ball out from the back.
14 min: Inter win another throw-in deep in Spurs territory. It’s taken long towards Matias Veccino, who slices high and wide on the half-volley from just inside the area.
13 min: Spurs win a free-kick about 30 yards from the Inter goal for a foul on Erik Lamela. Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic organises a wall, but is forced to get get down to his left and parry clear when Christian Eriksen sends a fizzing, dipping shot his way.
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11 min: After Ben Davies concedes a throw, the ball is sent Perisic’s way and he flicks it towards Icardi in the penalty area. Serge Aurier clears acrobatically with a bicycle kick.
10 min: Inter are employing a heavy and high press on Tottenham’s defenders when they have the ball deep inside their own half and their visitors don’t quite seem to know how to deal with it yet. They keep conceding throw-ins inside their own half, much like they did against Liverpool.
8 min: Corner for Inter after good work by Ivan Perisic. He got in behind the Spurs defence and tried a pull-back towards Icardi, who was lurking near the penalty spot. His effort was deflected out for a corner off Sanchez, but nothing came of the ensuing set-piece.
8 min: Jan Vertonghen plays the ball long for Harry Kane to chase, but Stefan De Vrij heads clear.
6 min: Inter enjoy a spell of possession, before spreading the ball wide to Kwadwo Asamoah on the left flank, just inside his own half. He plays it forward and Tottenham regain possession.
4 min: Ben Davies plays the ball down the left touchline towards Harry Kane, who is unable to keep his balance under pressure from Milan Skriniar and falls over. Throw-in for Inter, deep inside their own half.
3 min: Eric Dier picks up where he left off against Liverpool on Saturday, giving the ball away twice in quick succession. Mauro Icardi is played through on goal, but the flag goes up for offside again.
2 min: Ivan Perisic gets on the ball down the left flank and plays it forward to Radja Nainggolan, whose head is shaved. Offside.
1 min: Mousa Dembele gets on the ball in midfield and plays it forward to Erik Lamela, with his back to goal. Inter clear after Marcelo Brozovic dispossesses the Spurs man.
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Inter v Tottenham Hotspur is GO!!!
1 min: Tottenham kick off, their players wearing white shirts, shorts and socks. Inter wear their usual home kit of blue and black stripes, black shorts and black socks.
The teams line-up: The Champions League anthem blares out around the San Siro as the players from both teams line up either side of the team of match officials. Kick-off is just moments away.
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Not long now: The teams line up in the tunnel, with penalty box predators Mauro Icardi and Harry Kane preparing to lead them out. Icardi has yet to get off the mark this season, while Kane has two goals to his name, but has come in for recent criticism after a couple of poor performances. His manager has expressed his complete faith in him, mind. “He’s going to score goals and he’s going to perform in the way we want and expect,” said Mauricio Pochettino. “No problem.”
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Mauricio Pochettino speaks: Explaining the five changes he’s made from the defeat against Liverpool on Saturday to BT Sport, he says: “We have five changes because we are in that period of the season when we need to rotate the squad,” he says. “Some players are tired. The circumstances are a lot different to last season.”
And on how he’ll line up his team: “We try to use a different formation in different periods of the game,” he says. “Sometimes diamond, sometimes two strikers, sometimes two players out wide.”
Inter v Tottenham Hotspur line-ups
Internazionale: Handanovic, Skriniar, de Vrij, Miranda, Asamoah, Politano, Vecino, Brozovic, Perisic, Nainggolan, Icardi.
Subs: Padelli, Balde, Ranocchia, Valero, D’Ambrosio, Candreva, Berni.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vorm, Aurier, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Davies, Dembele, Dier, Eriksen, Kane, Lamela, Son.
Subs: Gazzaniga, Rose, Winks, Wanyama, Walker-Peters, Llorente, Lucas Moura.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France)
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Pochettino rings the changes ...
The Tottenham manager has brought in Pochettino drafted in Serge Aurier, Davinson Sanchez, Ben Davies, Erik Lamela and Son Heung-min, but Harry Kane starts, despite having spent several weeks walking around yawning, barely able to keep his eyes open but insisting, like a small child at bed-time who wants to watch another episode of Peppa Pig, that he really isn’t tired.
And some pre-match giggling ...
If you haven’t treated yourself to our resident cartoonist David Squires’s preview of the Champions League, you’re in for a real treat.
Some pre-match listening
As we countdown to kick-off, here’s the latest edition of our Football Weekly podcast for your listening pleasure. Among other things, we pick over the bones of the weekend action and look ahead to this week’s Champions League games. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can download it in all the usual pod-places.
Luciano Spalletti speaks ...
It’s fair to say the Inter manager is pleased to have masterminded his team’s return to the Champions League after a seven-year absence. “I won’t hide the fact that getting this massive club back to where it belongs after so many years is something that I’m particularly proud of,” he said. “I don’t think I have ever had a team with as much quality as the one I have now at Inter. This is a competition you wouldn’t swap for anything in the world. You experience truly wonderful emotions. After you’ve been in it, you can’t go without it.”
His approach tonight? “We need to go and take the initiative; we’re at home,” he said. “They have lots of weapons: skill and physicality ... we’re capable of putting out a team that has the potential to live up to what is needed from a team such as Inter.”
Mauricio Pochettino speaks ...
On his squad selection: “We have a lot of games coming up,” said the Tottenham manager. “We came from difficult circumstances with the World Cup. We have a plan to give different players a rest in all competitions. In the end no name is more important than another. The most important is the collective. Everyone is available to give their best and, of course, we need to try to give our best.”
And then, this: “It is like a cow that, every day in 10 years, sees the train cross in front at the same time,” he said. “If you ask the cow, ‘What time is the train going to come?’, it is not going to know the right answer. In football, it is the same.”
Early team news
Tottenham captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris remains sidelined with a thigh injury, while Dele Alli and Moussa Sissoko haven’t travelled either as they continue their recovery from injuries. Kieran Trippier and Toby Alderweireld have also been left at home for unspecified “technical reasons”, which their manager Mauricio Pochettino unsuccessfully attempted to clarify with a baffling analogy involving a cow and a train.
Going into their first Champions League group game in seven years, Inter have left their Croatian right-back Sime Vrsaljko out of their matchday squad as he has not recovered from a knee injury he suffered on international duty. Another full-back, Danilo D’Ambrosio is included despite injuring himself in his side’s defeat at the hands of Parma over the weekend. Martínez remains absent. Argentinian striker Lautaro Martinez is also out as he continues his recovery from a calf injury.
Group B: Internazionale v Tottenham Hotspur
The Champions League is back, with new staggered kick-off teams to make it more – or less, depending on your time zone and working hours – accessible for those wishing to gorge themselves at the trough marked “elite European football excess. First up in Group B, Inter entertain Tottenham Hotspur at the San Siro, while Barcelona entertain PSV Eindhoven simultaneously at the Camp Nou. Stay tuned for pre-match build-up, team news and regular updates, followed by a match report from Italy just moments after the final whistle. Kick-off is at 5.55pm (BST).
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