MILAN - It was an irksome afternoon for Armando Madonna’s Primavera side on Tuesday, as they were left with just a point following a well-played 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur. The Nerazzurri initially took the lead through a 22nd minute strike from Colidio during their UEFA Youth League opener, which was then cancelled out by a dubious penalty from Roles in the 58th minute. However, the Nerazzurri still missed chances at the Stadio Breda, missing out on what would’ve been a deserved victory.
The away side got off to the better start in the opening Group B game, with the first chance of the match falling to Roles who couldn’t beat Dekic. Inter soon responded through Merola, although the young striker dragged his shot wide after going through one-on-one with the Spurs’ shot-stopper. The 17th minute then saw more link-up play between Pompetti and Merola, although the Nerazzurri No.10 could only direct his shot straight at Austin. Roles then forced a goal-line clearance from Nolan five minutes later.
The breakthrough came not long after, with Persyn finding Colidio in the middle who then made no mistake in angling the ball past Austin. The first half ended with a fierce right-footed strike from Oakley-Boothe, however, Dekic did well to save. Roles then scored on the rebound but was he ruled out for offside.
The second half opened with a chance for Inter: Pompetti played yet another great ball to Colidio deep in Tottenham’s half, but the latter couldn’t quite convert in the penalty area. Maghoma had two chances for Tottenham prior to the penalty awarded for a foul by Nolan on Parrott, with Roles making no mistake from the spot with 58 minutes played. In the 66th minute, English attacker Parrott fouled Inter goalkeeper Dekic and received his second yellow card of the match. With 20 minutes to go, Colidio had two chances to give Inter the lead again but couldn’t convert the follow-up after hitting the post. In the 82nd minute, it was Salcedo’s turn to have a go, but he, unfortunately, shot wide. In the last few minutes, Salcedo was also sent off after a spat with an opponent. In the final few minutes, Inter tried to break down Tottenham’s defence once again, but they were unable to do so: the match finished in a 1-1 draw.
INTER 1-1 TOTTENHAM
Goalscorers: 22' Colidio, 58' Roles
INTER: 1 Dekic; Persyn (29' Grassini 2), Nolan (c), Van den Eynden, Corrado; Gavioli (31' st Schirò 16), Pompetti, Demirovic (15' st Burgio 15); Mulattieri; Merola (15' st Salcedo 11), Colidio (31' st Adorante 9)
Substitutes: 12 Tintori, 17 Rizzo
Coach: Armando Madonna
TOTTENHAM: 1 Austin; 2 Eyoma, 3 Walcott, 6 Binks, 3 Brown; 4 Skipp, 8 Oakley-Boothe; 7 Bennett, 10 Roles (31' st Richards 9), 11 Maghoma (31' st Patterson 17); 18 Parrott
Substitutes: 13 De Bie, 12 Lyons-Foster, 14 Bowden, 15 White, 16 Shashoua,
Coach: John McDermott
Added time: 4' - 4'
Bookings: Roles, Parrott, Demirovic, Salcedo, Brown
Red cards: Parrott, Salcedo
Referee: Antti Munukka
Assistants: Lemmettinen and Valjakka
