Marko Arnautovic gave Inter Milan a single-goal advantage in their UEFA Champions League, 2023-2024 season last-16 tie with Atletico Madrid after netting the only goal in Tuesday’s hard-fought 1-0 win.
Austria 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 my 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, which is nine points clear at the top of Serie A, take a slender lead of 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.
“We have to keep our heads up, there is one game left and we are going to do everything possible 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 perfect all the time.”
A cagey first half between two resolute teams left fans with little to shout about, with only a few pot shots getting supporters off their seats until the 36th minute, when Martinez saw his powerful header from Nicolo Barella’s cross saved by Oblak.
And moments later Martinez left Inter fans with their heads in their hands after uncharacteristically wasting a golden opportunity to open the scoring.
Martinez was handed a clear chance after Marcus Thuram intercepted Rodrigo De Paul’s wayward pass and burst towards Oblak’s goal, only for the Argentina forward to scuff his effort off Jose Maria Gimenez.
UEFA Champions League Result:
Inter Milan-1 (Arnautovic 79) vs Atletico Madrid-0.