LONDON - Inter's adventure in the 2019 International Champions Cup has ended with a penalty shootout win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: following a 1-1 draw in normal time after goals from Lucas and Sensi, Ranocchia, Dimarco, Politano and Joao Mario all scored from the spot and Handanovic saved twice to hand the Nerazzurri the win.
Tottenham started strongly and took the lead early on through Lucas Moura, who took full advantage of a quick break by Spurs and beat Handanovic at his near post after being found by Lamela. Inter looked to respond in the 13th minute, with Perisic getting the better of Sanchez and picking out Dalbert at the far post, but the Brazilian’s header was saved by Lloris. Four minutes later, Perisic combined with Esposito before shooting towards goal, but his effort was too weak to worry the Tottenham goalkeeper.
With 27 minutes on the clock, only bad luck prevented the Nerazzurri from drawing level: Brozovic let fly with his right foot from outside the box before seeing his great strike cannon off the inside of the post, roll across the goal line and end up out of play. However, Inter did deservedly grab an equaliser in the 37th minute: Dalbert played the ball forward, Esposito flicked the ball on with style and Sensi showed great composure to fire past Lloris.
The second half began with the Nerazzurri having made two changes at the break: Barella and Politano were on for Gagliardini and Esposito. There were also two new faces in the Tottenham team, with Sissoko and Vertonghen having been replaced by Eriksen and Alderweireld. Antonio Conte’s side continued where they left off, looking to push Spurs back in the final third. Perisic could have given the Nerazzurri the lead after being played in down the left, but the Croatian’s path was blocked by Alderweireld after he’d entered the penalty area.
With just over 15 minutes to go, Conte brought on Pirola, Dimarco and Puscas. The latter two almost combined to give Inter the lead, with Puscas just failing to get on the end of Dimarco’s low cross from the left. Inter’s pressing game once again caused Tottenham problems in the 77th minute as they won the ball back and Barella got a shot away, but the Italian’s right-footed effort was read well by Gazzaniga, who had come on in Lloris’s place. Following this, Son, who had replaced Kane prior to this, looked to fire past Handanovic, but the Inter goalkeeper was equal to his effort and put the ball behind for a corner.
In the final 600 seconds of the match, a number of substitutions were made, resulting in the tempo dropping. No further goals were scored, meaning penalties were required to decide the contest: Handanovic produced two fantastic stops during the shootout, while Ranocchia, Dimarco, Politano and Joao Mario all netted to secure a deserved win for the Nerazzurri.
INTER 1-1 TOTTENHAM (4-3 on penalties)
Goals: 3' Lucas Moura, 37' Sensi
Penalties: Eriksen (saved), Puscas (saved), Son (scored), Ranocchia (scored), Nkoudou (scored), Dimarco (scored), Alderweireld (scored), Politano (scored), Skipp (saved), Joao Mario (scored)
INTER: 1 Handanovic; 33 D'Ambrosio, 6 De Vrij (83’ Ranocchia 13), 37 Skriniar (74’ Pirola 98); 87 Candreva (83’ Joao Mario 15), 5 Gagliardini (46’ Barella 23), 77 Brozovic (83’ Agoumè 73), 12 Sensi (83’ Borja Valero 20), 29 Dalbert (74’ Dimarco 11); 44 Perisic (74’ Puscas 97), 70 Esposito (46’ Politano 16).
Substitutes: 27 Padelli, 46 Berni, 21 Longo.
Coach: Antonio Conte
TOTTENHAM: 1 Lloris (63’ Gazzaniga 22); 16 Walker-Peters (79’ Marsh 47), 6 Sanchez (79’ Tanganga 57), 5 Vertonghen (46’ Alderweireld 4), 3 Rose (79’ Georgiou 42); 17 Sissoko (46’ Eriksen 23), 28 Ndombele (79’ White 72); 11 Lamela (88’ Parrott 71), 8 Winks (63’ Skipp 52), 27 Lucas Moura (79’ Nkoudou 14); 10 Kane (63’ Son 7).
Substitutes: 41 Whiteman, 49 Austin.
Coach: Mauricio Pochettino
Bookings: Candreva (28'), Politano (71')
Added time: 1' - 2'
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