By Thomas Durning
Man City enter history books
A second half strike from Rodri was enough for Man City to secure a historic treble and also win the club’s first ever Champions League title. This was the first meeting between both these teams in the Champions League and after a tightly contested 90 minutes of football, the English side managed to do enough to bring the trophy back to Manchester.
Man City made two changes to the side that defeated Man Utd last time out. Stefan Ortega and Kyle Walker came out of the team, and they were replaced by Ederson and Manuel Akanji.
Inter Milan made five changes to the side that defeated Torino last time out. Samir Handanovic, Stefan De Vrij, Roberto Gagliardini, Robin Gosens, and Romelu Lukaku came out of the team, and they were replaced by Andre Onana, Francesco Acerbi, Nicolo Barella, Federico Dimarco, and Edin Dzeko.
The first chance of the match fell to Man City in the 6th minute after Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva cut inside from the right-hand side and after Dimarco failed to close him down, he curled a left footed shot which just went wide of the left post.
Despite Man City’s early chance in the match, Inter Milan started very well as they didn’t allow City to get any rhythm in the match and Inter Milan were competing well to try and cause the opposition problems.
In the 20th minute, Inter Milan had there first chance of the game after space opened up for midfielder Brozovic, but from the edge of the box, his shot went well over the bar.
Six minutes later, Inter Milan had another chance after a mistake by Man City keeper Ederson allowed Barella to seize the ball and after noticing the keeper was off his line, he attempted a first time shot but his effort went well wide of the target.
This seemed to wake Man City up because a minute later, the English side had the best chance of the game so far after Man City managed to break through the Inter Milan lines and due to this space between the lines, De Bruyne’s pass managed to find Haaland in the box, but his left footed shot was blocked by Onana.
In the 29th minute, Man City had another chance when De Bruyne was afforded space at the edge of the box, and he curled a strike towards goal, but Onana managed to make a comfortable save.
This was to be De Bruyne last meaningful action of the match because in the 36th minute, he had to come off due to a hamstring injury.
This was also to be the last action of the half and both teams would go into half time happy that they defended well but both frustrated that they had hardly created any chances.
The second half got underway and much like the first half, Man City were dominating the ball with Inter Milan competing well to try and win the ball back and hit the opposition on the counterattack.
In the 59th minute, Inter Milan had an opening after a backpass by Akanji was not collected by Ederson and this resulted in striker Martinez to pounce on the loose ball and from an angle, he attempted to try and beat the keeper, but Ederson made a vital stop to deny Martinez.
A minute later, Man City had a free kick and Gundogan lifted the ball into the box for defender Dias to attack but his header went over the bar.
Man City were finding it difficult to break down a stubborn Inter Milan defence who were brilliantly closing the space down however Man City’s patience paid off in the 68th minute when they broke the deadlock.
The move started with defender Akanji who played a pass to Silva in the inside-right channel. Silva cut the ball back into the middle which took a deflection off defender Darmian which resulted in the loose ball landing to Rodri who curled the ball passed two men and into the back of the net.
Inter Milan had to bounce back and in the 70th minute they had a brilliant chance to instantly equalise. After defender Dumfries headed the ball into a dangerous area, Dimarco managed to connect and his looping header went over Ederson and with the keeper scrambling, the ball hit the bar and the rebound fell to Dimarco again, but his second header hit off Lukaku to prevent the ball going in and the ball was then eventually cleared.
This was a golden chance missed by Inter Milan and three minutes later they had another chance when Lukaku was played into space down the right side, and he turned and shot low, but it was saved by Ederson.
The game was starting to open up and in the 78th minute, Man City had a chance to double their lead after midfielder Foden managed to turn away from his man and surge into the box and with only the keeper to beat, his left footed shot was not strong enough and Onana managed to get down and make the save.
The match was entering into the final stages and in the 88th minute, Inter Milan again had a golden chance to equalise. After Gosens managed to head a cutback into the middle of the box, it fell to Lukaku who from six yards out, powered a header towards goal but the header was saved by Ederson who managed to connect his knee to stop the ball hitting the back of the net.
In the 90th minute, Lukaku had another chance after he found space at the edge of the box and up against defender Walker, he shifted the ball onto his left foot, but his shot went wide of the target.
Inter Milan were doing all they could to try and equalise and in the 96th minute they again went agonisingly close when a Dimarco header was flicked on by Gosens, but his header was saved by Ederson and immediately after this chance, the referee blew the whistle and Manchester City had won there first Champions League title.
Man City: Ederson, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Stones (Walker 82’) Rodri, Silva, De Bruyne (Foden 36’) Gundogan, Grealish, Haaland
Subs not used: Mahrez, Perrone, Laporte, Phillips, Carson, Palmer, Gomez, Ortega, Alvarez, Lewis
Inter Milan: Onana, Darmian (D’Ambrosio 84’) Acerbi, Bastoni (Gosens 76’) Dumfries (Bellanova 76’) Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu (Mkhitaryan 84’) Dimarco, Dzeko (Lukaku 57’) Martinez
Subs not used: Cordaz, Handanovic, Asllani, de Vrij, Skriniar, Correa, Gagliardini
Referee: Szymon Marciniak
Reporter: Thomas Durning
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