Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan: 5 Talking Points as Pep Guardiola wins his second career treble | UEFA Champions League 2022-23
Manchester City beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League final at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday (June 10).
City were coming off a convincing 5-1 aggregate win over holders Real Madrid in the semifinals. Pep Guardiola's men then secured the FA Cup with a combative 2-1 win over Manchester United, putting them on course for their first treble. The Spaniard named a strong lineup for the final.
Inter, meanwhile, qualified for their sixth final with a convincing 3-0 aggregate win over bitter rivals AC Milan in the semifinals. The Nerrazzurri, too, won silverware coming into the game, beating Fiorentina 2-1 to lift the Coppa Italia. Simone Inzaghi named a full-strength lineup for the game.
Manchester City made a bright start to the contest and dominated possession. Despite having less of the ball, Inter Milan created a couple of half chances but failed to test Ederson in goal. Both sides attempted four shots apiece, with City hitting the target twice, while Inter hit the target just once.
Guardiola's men suffered a setback midway through the first period, as Kevin De Bruyne suffered an injury. He was replaced by Phil Foden in the 36th minute as Manchester City looked determined to push on. The first half ended all square.
Both teams made decent starts to the second period, but Manchester City looked slightly rusty as they misplaced a couple of passes. One of them fell straight to Lautaro Martinez, who was unable to convert from inside the box. City, though, woke up from their slumber and snatched the lead in the 68th minute through a wonder striker from Rodri.
Substitute Romelu Lukaku saw a few chances come his way later in the second period but was clumsy inside the box and was unable to convert simple header, and also denied teammate Federico Dimarco by blocking his shot. City showed great character as they held on to secure their maiden Champions League win.
On that note, let's take a look at the five talking points from the game:
#5 Kevin De Bruyne faces injury setback in first half
Manchester City made a good start to the game and controlled possession of the ball in the first period.
They tried to play with a compact shape, looking to pass the ball through Inter Milan's defensive lines. However, their mometum faced a setback after Kevin De Bruyne hobbled off with an injury in the 36th minute.
Teammate Erling Haaland was seen consoling De Bruyne, who has now come off injured in his second straight Champions League final. He faced a similar setback against Chelsea in 2021. The Belgian was replaced by Phil Foden.
#4 Lautaro Martinez's missed chance leaves Pep Guardiola on his knees
Lautaro Martinez made a positive start for Inter Milan and looked to get in behind Manchester City's defence with his darting runs. He actively pressed their backline and also intercepted a couple of passes. However, he missed a glorious chance to put Inter a goal up in the second period.
Manuel Akanji misjudged a pass and let the ball roll towards goal, assuming Ederson was covering behind him. Martinez pounced on the loose ball and drove forward towards the byline before panicking and shooting the ball straight into Ederson's midriff.
City manager Pep Guardiola was on his knees as the ball was played backwards and fell kindly to the Argentine. He heaved a huge sigh of relief.
You can watch the video below:
#3 Rodri scores a lovely goal to put Manchester City in front
Following Martinez's missed chance, Inter Milan looked deflated and allowed City to keep possession for longer. This period gave Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden opportunities to make runs behind the opposition's defensive lines, and they made the most of them.
Silva drifted into the box as Foden pulled a defender with him with a decoy run, allowing the Portuguese to cut the ball back. His pass took a heavy deflection and fell kindly to Rodri, who guided the ball past two defenders and into the net to make it 1-0 after 68 minutes.
#2 Romelu Lukaku misses two sitters in the second half
Lukaku was brought into the game in the 57th minute in place of Edin Dzeko, who suffered an injury and was unable to continue. The Belgian got into couple of good positions and also saw multiple opportunities to score come his way.
First, Manchester City were caught napping as a lofted pass found its way to Federico Dimarco, whose looping header bounced back to him off the crossbar. His second attempt was on target, but Lukaku got in the way, and the chance was squandered.
The Belgian then had a glorious chance to level the game with less than five minutes to go but headed the ball right in the middle of the goal, where Ederson was standing.
#1 City hold off Inter Milan to complete historic treble
Despite missed chances, Inter Milan gave it their all towards the end of the game. However, Manchester City showed great resilience to hold them off.
They have now emulated the achivement of cross-town rivals Manchester United (1998-99) as the only English teams to win the continental treble.
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has done his bit to endear himself to the blue half of the city, becoming the first manager to win the treble with two clubs.
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Arnav Kholkar