Romelu Lukaku scored near the end to give Inter a 1-0 victory over ten-man Porto in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
Porto midfielder Ottavio was sent off for a second warning in the 78th minute, and Inter took advantage of the matter, so substitute Lukaku equalized four minutes from the end and gave his team the advantage to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in 12 years..
“We played well against a physically strong team. Unfortunately we failed to take advantage of some chances in the first half and took risks in the second half, but the substitutes helped the team,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi told Amazon Prime Italia.“.
Lautore Martinez almost gave Inter the lead after 13 minutes, but he headed it off the field.
Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana saved a ball from Marco Grujic after a backheel pass from Mehdi Tarmi..
Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa intervened to deflect a header from Alessandro Bastoni at the end of the first half.
After Otavio was sent off for interfering with Hakan Chalhan Oglu, Inter pressed and Lukaku jumped to turn Niccolo Barella’s cross with a header, but it hit the post and rebounded to the Belgian player to score..
Inter put an end to four consecutive defeats in the first leg of the Champions League knockout rounds, and the fans sang the name of Lukaku, who has been plagued by injuries this season..
Inter will visit Porto on March 14th.
