Man City held by Inter Milan in opener

'No quick fix' for Spurs despite late win at Coventry

FE Team | Published: September 19, 2024 21:55:57

MANCHESTER, England, Sept 19 (Agencies): Inter Milan escaped Etihad Stadium with a surprise 0-0 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, exacting a small measure of revenge for their narrow loss to Pep Guardiola's side in the 2023 final.
Both teams squandered numerous chances in a breathless back-and-forth affair. City were largely stalled by Inter's impressive discipline in defence, while Simone Inzaghi's Inter, who were dangerous on the break on a nervy night for both sides, were wayward with their finishing.
"We faced a really difficult team," Guardiola said.
"I'm still really, really satisfied for the game we played, especially with how (Inter) defended, they are masters of that, so big, they help each other unbelievably. So you cannot expect to create a lot of chances."
Inzaghi was similarly pleased with his squad's night.
"I said 'well done guys', they put in a giant performance," the manager said. "I asked them to play exactly as they did. We all know Manchester City, what they are capable of, we knew we had to pull out all the stops, play a great game and we did it."
City's goal machine Erling Haaland, who would have become the fastest player in history to record 100 goals for a European club had he scored, will have to wait to achieve that milestone.
The Norwegian, who has nine goals in four Premier League games this season, narrowly missed a couple of first-half chances including a header that keeper Yann Sommer jumped up to grab on the line, and a hard, low shot that rolled just wide of the post.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had City fans breathing a huge sigh of relief when he missed a late chance, launching a rocket just over the bar from about eight metres out, then holding his head in disbelief.
At the other end, Ilkay Gundogan elicited huge groans from City fans after twice failing to convert with close-range headers in the dying seconds. He launched the first one straight at the keeper, with the second one glancing just over the bar right before the final whistle.
City fired 22 shots to Inter's 13, but only had one more shot on target than their visitors with five.
"A very intense game against a very strong opponent," City defender Ruben Dias told TNT.
"We knew what was coming, they're a top team as well, they're used to winning, and we knew we're not going to have an easy job. In the end, I think the team had a great performance, we were very close to scoring."
Under the new Champions League format, teams play eight matches against eight different opponents, with the top eight sides in the 36-team league automatically advancing to the last 16, and the next 16 playing a further knockout round.
Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou warned "there is no quick fix" for his side despite their dramatic win over Championship side Coventry City in the Carabao Cup third round.
Brennan Johnson scored a stoppage-time winner as two late goals helped Tottenham come from behind and paper over an underwhelming performance.
Tottenham avoided a shock defeat in the third round of the English League Cup after scoring two late goals to beat second-division Coventry 2-1 on Wednesday.
Djed Spence evened the score in the 88th minute at Coventry Arena after Brandon Thomas-Asante had fired the home team ahead in the 63rd.
Brennan Johnson completed Spurs' comeback with the winner in the second minute of stoppage time.
Coventry had come agonizingly close to upsetting Manchester United in the semifinal of the FA Cup last season - losing on penalties after a 3-3 draw at Wembley.
And it was another heartbreak against Premier League opposition after Tottenham's late rescue act.
"Coventry were outstanding with the energy they brought, we had to dig deep today and we found what we needed to win the game," Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said.
Elsewhere, Wolverhampton's troubled start to the season continued with a 3-2 loss at Brighton that saw it eliminated from the competition.