S Poddar
A closely contested 1-0 win came for Inter Milan in their Champions League battle against Arsenal at San Siro as Hakan Calhanoglu maintained his perfect penalty record with the only goal of a tight match. With the defeat, the Gunners’ unbeaten run in the competition was brought to an end as a week of turmoil at the club came to an end following the shock resignation of sporting director Edu.
It was a disappointing evening for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who got himself booked in the second half after pushing forward his team to equalise, thus narrowly avoiding being sent off. This latest loss, 1-0 on the road, was Arsenal’s second consecutive 1-0 defeat away from home. Arsenal had the edge after the break, taking a total of 14 corners to Inter’s zero.
A penalty in the 48th minute was all Inter needed to take home this game after Mehdi Taremi’s deflected flick struck Mikel Merino’s arm, which, Arteta later said, was “hard to accept.” The last time Arsenal visited Inter, nearly 21 years ago, is counted as one of their most iconic European nights after they secured a resounding 5-1 win. Edu, a midfielder then, played a key role along with Ray Parlour in this celebrated match, punctuated by a magnificent solo run by Thierry Henry. In this second meeting, though Arsenal showed a strong dominance of play after Inter’s early thrust, the result was different.
The Gunners had been observing a bit of inconsistency lately, losing three games in six across all competitions, which has halted their good run going on after the early part of the season. Some respite was seen towards the end of the game with the return of captain Martin Ødegaard, out for 12 matches because of an ankle injury.
But Thomas Partey, stepping in for the unavailable Declan Rice, started anchored central midfield and Ben White filled in at the back, where Arsenal had yet to concede inside the Champions League proper until this defeat in the north of Italy. Inter, meanwhile, have four clean sheets in a row and are sitting pretty in the top eight Champions League teams. Arsenal, on the other hand, is now 12th.
Simone Inzaghi, Inter’s manager, left out several key players, including Calhanoglu and Taremi, for their weekend victory over Venezia, a move that came off as both players featured prominently in the win over Arsenal. With his focus on seeing lots of the ball and starving Arsenal of a chance to attack, the Italian champions set the tone early, but Inter nearly took the lead within seconds of the start after Denzel Dumfries hit the crossbar soon after having a Calhanoglu attempt that just went past the box.
Arsenal found it hard to build any sort of flow in the first half. Gabriel Magalhães was surely instrumental in clearing Taremi’s from the edge of the area but things went pear-shaped in a flash when the Brazilian was booked for his tussle with Lautaro Martínez. Arteta claimed the rest and sent on Jurriën Timber and Gabriel Martinelli, possibly anticipating against Dumfries.
While Arsenal eventually found opportunities – a shot on target for Martinelli, a near-miss header from Merino – Inter’s defense would not bend once in the opening half. The breakthrough came in stoppage time of the opening half, when referee awarded Inter a penalty after Calhanoglu calmly slotting the spot kick home as the Mertens volley was deflected off the arm of Merino inside the box to give Inter the lead and send Arsenal seeking the equalizer.
After the penalty, Arteta brought in tactical alterations and replaced Merino with Gabriel Jesus, with Kai Havertz dropping into midfield. Arsenal pressed intensely throughout the second half. Martinelli first chipped the outside of the side netting before William Saliba got a corner wrong. Gabriel nearly headed home when his nod led to Dumfries clearing the ball off the line.
Ødegaard warms up on the sideline, but Inter brings on fresh legs with a triple substitution, mere seconds past the hour. Arteta, visibly agitated, was yellow carded for handling the ball when it was already out of play for a free-kick from Inter. The referee gave Arteta his final yellow for his complaints about the handling. “It was an interesting conversation,” said Arteta after.
Arsenal had a great chance to draw the game level as Leandro Trossard’s cross reached Havertz, but that German’s shot was blocked by Inter’s Yann Bisseck. An acute shortage of options left Arteta having to introduce 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri before finally Ødegaard in added time. However, Inter’s defense did not flinch and thus kept their clean sheet intact for a weekend clash with Napoli. Arsenal, though has to rebuild as their game against Chelsea is only heaping coals to an already tight week.
