UCL: Late Arnautovic goal gives Inter win over Atletico; Dortmund, PSV ends in a draw
Marko Arnautovic gave Inter Milan a single-goal advantage in their tie with Atletico Madrid after netting the only goal in Tuesday’s hard-fought 1-0 win.
Austria striker Arnautovic 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.
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, who are nine points clear at the top of Serie A, take a slender lead to Madrid where they will face Atletico in the decisive second leg on 13 March.
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.
They could not keep Inter out and now have to overturn Tuesday’s result in order to reach the quarterfinals.
Dutch striker Donyell Malen snatched a vital goal to earn Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund a 1-1 draw away at his old club PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League last-16 first-leg on Tuesday.
PSV, runaway unbeaten leaders of the Dutch Eredivisie, were left to rue a plethora of first-half missed chances and now have it all to do in the second leg in Germany.
And it was a cagey opening in an intimidating atmosphere in Eindhoven, the home fans letting off a volley of fireworks at kick-off.
When the smoke cleared, the hosts had the better of the opening exchanges, Mexico international winger Hirving Lozano causing the Dortmund defence headaches down the left.
PSV midfielder Malik Tillman squandered two gilt-edged chances in front of goal, once firing wide after a clever through-ball from veteran Dutch striker Luuk de Jong.
And the visitors punished PSV’s profligacy, taking the lead against the run of play in the 24th minute when Malen squeezed a deflected shot into the top corner.
Malen had been prolific for the Dutch giants, scoring 55 goals in all competitions in just 43 games, and chose not to celebrate in front of PSV’s hardcore fans.
