Romelu Lukaku thought he had scored Inter Milan’s crucial second goal to effectively put their group game with Slavia Prague to bed on Wednesday night, only for VAR to make one of the most extraordinary interventions in the history of the Champions League, chalking off the goal to award Slavia a penalty at the other end.
The foul on Peter Olayinka had been missed by the referee Szymon Marciniak, who allowed play to go on. Inter raced down the other end and Lukaku turned home a simple finish at the end of a rapid counter-attack.
But as Inter celebrated the referee was told to pull play back for the penalty, to the delight of the majority of the Sinobo Stadium and the dismay of Inter coach Antonio Conte on the touchline. Tomas Soucek fired home from the spot to level the score at 1-1 going into the break.
Lautaro Martínez had scored Inter’s opener, assisted by Lukaku.
Inter need a victory to get themselves back in the mix for qualification, with Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund above them in Group F.
