Ammon News - Marko Arnautovic gave Inter Milan a single-goal advantage in their Champions League last-16 tie with Atletico Madrid after netting the only goal on Tuesday, February 20 in a hard-fought 1-0 win.
Austrian striker Arnautovic replaced Marcus Thuram at half-time and rammed home Inter's winner with 11 minutes left at the San Siro after Jan Oblak failed to hold Lautaro Martinez's shot.
The 34-year-old turned jeers into deafening cheers with his goal, which came after a series of missed opportunities left home fans wondering whether Inter would get the win their performance deserved.
His worst miss came just after the hour mark when he ballooned over a sitter, a dreadful finish which came before and after failed attempts to latch on to promising balls.
"It is certainly one of the most important goals of my career," said Arnautovic to Sky Sport. "In recent weeks I've missed a lot of chances. But the fans and the players showed they are behind me... It gave me the energy I needed to score the goal."
Arnautovic has had a hard time since returning to Inter on loan from Bologna last summer and those misses further frustrated supporters. However, thanks to him Simone Inzaghi's side, who are nine points clear at the top of Serie A, take a slender lead to Madrid where they will face Atletico in the decisive second leg on March 13.
Atletico have been a more attacking proposition this season but retreated into the dogged defensive mode more representative of Diego Simeone's long reign in Spain. They could not keep Inter out and now have to overturn Tuesday's result in order to reach the quarter-finals.
"We have to keep our heads up, there is one game left and we are going to do everything possible to to get through," said Oblak to Movistar. "They had two or three chances when we weren't perfect and in a game like this you have to be perfect all the time."
Meanwhile, PSV Eindhoven coach Peter Bosz was left ruing missed chances after his side squandered several opportunities in a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League last-16 first-leg tie on Tuesday. "In the second half, we had loads of chances. It was a shame that we didn't score a second," Bosz told reporters after the game at the Philips Stadion.
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https://www.lemonde.fr/en/europe/article/2024/02/21/champions-league-inter-milan-defeat-atletico-madrid-while-dortmund-draw-with-psv_6543681_143.html
Donyell Malen snatched a vital goal to earn the Bundesliga giants the away draw at his old club but wasteful PSV were left to wonder what could have been. The big question pre-match was which Borussia Dortmund would show up: the team that topped the Champions League 'Group of Death' or the outfit struggling for consistency in the Bundesliga?
And it was a cagey opening in an intimidating atmosphere in Eindhoven, the home fans letting off a volley of fireworks at kick-off. "We started very nervously, I think both sides were nervous in the first minutes," said Dortmund coach Edin Terzic.
When the smoke cleared, the hosts had the better of the opening exchanges, Mexico international winger Hirving Lozano causing the Dortmund defense headaches down the left. PSV midfielder Malik Tillman fluffed two gilt-edged chances in front of goal, once firing wide after a clever through-ball from veteran Dutch striker Luuk de Jong.
The visitors punished PSV's profligacy, taking the lead against the run of play in the 24th minute when Malen squeezed a deflected shot into the top corner.
PSV haven't lost at home all season and started the second half on the front foot. They were soon level. Tillman redeemed his earlier errors by winning a penalty in the 56th minute, which De Jong slotted calmly past Alexander Meyer.
Dortmund defenders were incensed at the penalty award, insisting veteran central defender Mats Hummels had nicked the ball before bringing down Tillman.
Terzic described it as a "hard decision" and even Bosz acknowledged: "You could see from the reaction of the Dortmund players they didn't agree with it."
"Zero percent a penalty. Zero," Hummels himself told Prime Video after the game. "Tillman was laughing all over the place. Bakayoko was laughing himself to death. They were all grinning for minutes later."
The controversial equalizer opened the game up, with chances at both ends, a flick by Dortmund's Marius Wolf forcing a sharp save from Walter Benitez in the PSV goal. With 15 minutes to go, Bakayoko danced through the Dortmund defense but failed to get any purchase on his shot – summing up the night for PSV.
Le Monde
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