Dzeko guides Inter past Plzen, Sporting strike late to beat Spurs
Viktoria Plzen - Inter Milan 0-2
After defeat to Bayern Munich and a double header with Barcelona on the horizon, Simone Inzaghi knew there was absolutely no room for error on their trip to the Czech Republic. His side were dominant in the first half, with the hosts perhaps wary of suffering a similar drubbing as they did at the Camp Nou last time out.
With neither Lautaro Martínez nor Romelu Lukaku in the starting lineup, Inter’s second-string forward line stepped up to create the opener. Joaquin Correa slotted in Džeko on the inside left, and the Bosnian opened his body to finish in emphatic fashion into the bottom corner. Clear-cut chances remained few and far between after the deadlock was broken, but Džeko ought to have doubled the lead before the break, but he failed to cap off an expertly-crafted counter attack when his shot was saved by Jindřich Staněk.
The Nerazzurri emerged after the HT break determined to press home their advantage. Denzel Dumfries spurned a glorious chance to extend the lead soon after the resumption, rising highest to meet Alessandro Bastoni’s cross, but the Dutchman failed to keep his header down. Michal Bílek’s men were hanging on, and their task was made even more difficult when Pavel Bucha was sent off for a heavy challenge on Nicolò Barella.
Inter made full use of their numerical advantage and put the game to bed 20 minutes from time. Džeko fed Dumfries on the right, who produced a clever finish, striking the ball into the ground to ensure it bounced over Staněk. Plzeň’s five-match unbeaten run on home soil in the UCL comes to an end, with the small matter of back-to-back fixtures against Bayern Munich on the horizon.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Edin Džeko (Inter Milan)
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Sporting Lisbon - Tottenham 2-0
In pursuit of first-ever back-to-back victories to commence a UCL campaign, Sporting manufactured the first opportunity of a lively opening half, as Hugo Lloris had to be on his toes to tip Pedro Gonçalves’ strike around the post. Facing Portuguese opposition in Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in 60 years, Spurs responded in kind, and Richarlison’s close-range header into the arms of Antonio Adán brought an animated response from three-time UCL runner-up Antonio Conte on the touchline.
Hoping to haunt his former employers, after only playing 15 minutes of competitive football for Tottenham, Marcus Edwards – dubbed the ‘mini-Messi’ – remained Sporting’s central attacking menace going forward, as Lloris instinctively ended his mesmerising Lionel Messi-esque solo run moments before the interval, shortly after Richarlison had seen a strike ruled out for offside.
In pursuit of their first away European victory in six matches, the visitors restarted similarly to how they began the game, as Adán denied Emerson Royal on two separate occasions in the opening moments of the second half. Sporting then began to weather the attacking storm, but Harry Kane was millimetres away from connecting to Ivan Perišić’s enticing cross just before Antonio Conte introduced Dejan Kulusevski off the bench.
But the vocal power of the Estádio José Alvalade would yet conjure a late twist, and substitute Paulinho glanced Pedro Porro’s inswinging corner past the helpless silhouette of Lloris. Capitalising on Spurs' shell-shocked state, Sporting stunned Conte’s side again in the third minute of added-on time, when Arthur Gomes scored on his European debut following a spellbinding run through the Tottenham defence.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Edwards (Sporting Lisbon)
