Edin Dzeko nets a brace against Shakhtar to give Inter a spot in the Round of 16. After 3 goalless draws in their last 3 meetings, Inter finally break Shakhtar’s defense. The Nerazzurri finally enter the knockout stage after a decade and the fans are delighted. Inter Milan will get a €20 million boost because of their qualification to the Round of 16. The Nerazzurri can finish at the top of the table if they manage to beat Madrid in the last matchday of the group stage.
Inzaghi decided to go with a similar lineup that beat Napoli 3-2 with only Dzeko taking Correa’s place. While De Zerbi had to start with Fernando as the lone striker as Traore was still out due to a knee injury. Inter had a good start to the first half as Barella got close to scoring in the 11th minute. But, he lost his footing near the penalty spot so his shot went over the crossbar. Perisic was having a good game as he was causing all sorts of problems to Dodo in defense. Shakhtar had more possession of the ball but they did not threaten Handanovic much in the first half.
Dzeko nets a brace to give Inter a 2-0 win over Shakhtar
Inter were more intense in the second half and were moving forward quickly. In the 57th minute, Lautaro scored a goal but it was disallowed as he pushed Matvyenko to get some space. Inter finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute as Perisic picked out Darmian whose shot went straight to Vitao. Then the ball came to Dzeko who picked his spot in the bottom corner. Dzeko then scored another in quick succession as Perisic put in a wonderful cross after beating his marker with a step over. Dzeko headed that one in with ease and gave inter a 2 goal cushion.
Inzaghi then soon brought in Correa in place of Lautaro to give him some rest. While De Zerbi decided to sub Pedrinho who had a poor game but still his side could not break Inter’s defense. Inzaghi brought in D’Ambrosio and Vidal to ensure that Inter keep a clean sheet. He also gave a few minutes to Sensi and Dimarco in the end. Inter will now turn their focus to Serie A as they face Venezia on Sunday.
