Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in the 2019/2020 Champions League Group F match at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday (18/9).
Inter appeared aggressive after kicked off since the early minutes through several efforts from Lautaro Martinez. In the middle of the first half the host gets a golden opportunity to score. But Danilo D’Ambrosio’s header in the 23rd minute was denied by goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.
The Nerazzurri dominated the attack. Lautaro Martinez became the foundation in breaking down Slavia defenses. The crucial role of Romelu Lukaku has not yet been seen.
D’Ambrosio’s attempted kick from outside the penalty box. But the kick in the 34th minute was still hovering over the Slavia crossbar.
Slavia Prague try to provide resistance by playing short passes. The visitors’ efforts were quite troublesome for the Inter defense.
Inter had difficulty penetrating the Slavia defense and providing threats. Every Inter attack always foundered in the back line of the visitors.
At the beginning of the second half, Slavia got an onslaught from Inter. Stefano Sensi’s shot from outside the box was successfully pushed over by Kolar. Likewise with the ball rebound from Martinez can still be defeated 24-year goalkeeper in the 46th minute.
In the 51st minute Nicolae Stanciu fired straight into the goal but could be caught by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. Two minutes later Stanciu conducted a similar experiment but the ball just crossed the goal.
Continue to press Inter Milan was surprised by the goals of the visitors who were born from the feet of Peter Olayinka in the 63rd minute. The goal was created from Olayinka’s pass to Tomas Soucek.
Soucek then shoots the ball that can be pushed by Handanovic. Olayinka struck the ball rebound without escort Inter defender.
Referee Ruddy Buquet briefly reviewed the VAR to confirm this. But VAR decided Olayinka’s goal was legitimate and not offside.
Stanciu returned to spread threats through a free kick in the 67th minute. It’s just that Stanciu’s free-footed free-kick was thin on the right side of the Inter goal.
Milan defender Skriniar also tried his luck to be able to provide a balancing goal for Inter. But Skriniar’s 88th minute shot was easily caught by Kolar.
Inter’s equalizer was born in injury time minutes. Starting from Sensi’s free kick that hit the crossbar, then the chaos that occurred in front of the Slavia goal was used by Nicolo Barella to release the right foot. Barella kick in the 90th minute + 2 to make the ball lead to the right side of the goal that makes goalkeeper Kolar not move.
Lukaku almost brought Inter ahead in the final minutes. But Lukaku’s header in front of the Slavic goal could be saved by Kolar. The final score of the match remains 1-1 for both teams.