A late red card for Porto’s Otávio paved the way for substitute Romelu Lukaku to earn Inter a 1-0 lead after the opening instalment of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
A tentative first half threw up limited chances for either side, with Lautaro Martínez spurning the first worthy of note when he headed Federico Dimarco’s cross off target.
Galeno did likewise at the other end after André Onana had parried Marko Grujić’s drilled shot, but an opener looked certain in added time only for Diogo Costa to pull off a superb reflex stop to deny Alessandro Bastoni.
Though Nicolò Barella flashed just wide of Costa’s goal early in the second half, it was Onana who was busiest after the break. The Inter keeper first got down well to keep out Mehdi Taremi’s effort and then pulled off an exceptional double save to thwart Zaidu and Taremi again.
The Nerazzurri had 12 minutes to capitalise after Otávio was shown a second yellow card to reduce the visitors to ten men. Lukaku duly delivered with his second bite of the cherry, turning in the rebound after his initial header had come off the woodwork.
Reaction
Simone Inzaghi, Inter coach: “We played an excellent game against a physical and technical opponent. In the first half, we had to be faster in passing the ball. We had to build better and faster, but our opponents were ferociously pressing us. We had to raise the pace when circulating the ball.”
Romelu Lukaku, Inter striker: “I’ve been through some complicated months and I’m happy to be available and help the team to achieve our goals. I’m happy with the win and we want to continue like this.”
Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Player of the Match: “Winning against such a team isn’t easy but thanks to Romelu and my team-mates, we did it. It’s not over yet: a very difficult game awaits us in Portugal and we will do everything to win there, too.”
Diogo Costa, Porto goalkeeper: “When you give everything, it’s painful losing like this. We showed our personality and we will do the same in the second game.”
Pepe, Porto captain: “It’s difficult to explain a defeat after what we did here. Congratulations to the team. We hope in the next game, with our supporters, to be able to come back.”
Sérgio Conceição, Porto head coach: “We were at the level of this competition. It’s half-time in the tie and we have another 90 minutes to play at Dragão.”
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