Inter Milan 1–0 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif 
at San Siro, Italy 

A HAKAN CALHANOGLU penalty moments before half time was enough to seal a hard-fought Champions League victory for Inter Milan on a raw and raucous evening at the San Siro on Wednesday evening.

The Turkish international’s spot-kick success at the end of the first half came on his return to action having missed three matches due to a thigh issue.

Arsenal came into this heavyweight clash here at a packed Stadio Giuseppe Meazza — to give this towering ground its full name — on the back of a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Newcastle last time out.

The loss in the north-east to Alexander Isak’s header was compounded by a frustrating draw against Liverpool, prior to an unexpected 2-0 loss on the south coast at Bournemouth to ensure that the pressure on Mikel Arteta ramped up considerably since their previous match in the Champions League.

While the 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk ensured the Gunners made it seven points from nine, following their comfortable 2-0 victory over billionaire moneybags PSG, and their goalless draw against a spirited Atalanta side not far from Milan, in Bergamo, Arteta needed a positive performance from his increasingly beleaguered side on a misty evening in northern Italy.

For their part the Serie A champions have been ticking along nicely this term, having won seven out of eight in all competitions. While their form in the Champions League has been impressive, holding Manchester City to a 0-0 draw, before their 4-0 cruise over Red Star prior to a 1-0 away win at Young Boys in Switzerland via a late winner from Marcus Thuram. 

The return of Martin Odegaard certainly came as a much-needed tonic for Arteta and his side, with the much-missed 25-year-old named on the bench, prior to making a fleeting appearance late on. Inter also received a huge boost, with talented matchwinner Calhanoglu back after missing the last three Inter matches with a thigh injury.

Following a moment’s appreciation for the victims of the Spanish floods, the San Siro broke into a fevered roar, with a tremendous atmosphere generated here after Inter make a lively start, which was underlined when Dumfries crashed a shot against Raya’s woodwork in the second minute, prior to the fit again Calhanoglu drilling a low effort narrowly wide.

The home side were completely dominant in the early stages, with Jurrien Timber engaged in a challenging duel with the dangerous Dumfries.

With Inter playing wing-backs it made it difficult for Arsenal captain Saka to push up along the flanks in a bid to prompt the visitors attacks, while Gabi Martinelli on the opposite channel was wasteful during his rare forays forward.

While when the Gunners did manage to earn a dead ball opportunity, Inter stuck to their linchpin Brazil centre-back Gabriel like a limpet on the rare occasions Arsenal offered a dead ball threat to the home side’s box. Even if, on one occasion, Lautaro Martinez was shown the yellow card by Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs after tangling with Gabriel.

Merino’s first-half effort missed the far post after Martinelli’s ball into a crowded box, but VAR was simply not interested in a penalty claim, despite keeper Sommer clattering the £28 million midfielder’s head.

As the clock ticked down on an opening 45 minutes that Arsenal grew into, referee Istvan Kovacs awarded a penalty to Inter after Merino handled in the box. While the decision was current according to the laws of the game, the law is frustrating. Not least when penalising players for inadvertently having their arms out.

Up stepped the imperious Calhanoglu, who made no mistake, making it 19 from 19 spot-kicks for the Nerazzurri, sending Raya to ground the wrong way, the San Siro erupting as the home side went 1-0 up. 

Moments later the Romanian official blew for half time, amplifying the north Londoners’ frustrations at failing to make it to the break level.

In the 58th minute Dumfries cleared off the line from Saka’s ball in with Sommer nowhere, as Arteta’s side strove for parity.

Arteta was then yellow carded for touching the ball while it was still in play along the touchline as tempers rose. Not least when Jesus and Nicolo Barella engaged in a tussle that saw them both carded.

With 15 minutes remaining Havertz’s effort went agonisingly wide after Yann Bisseck’s crucial deflection took the ball away from goal when the attacker was well-placed, with more space and time than he realised, as the home side saw out the game.

Reflecting after the match, Arteta said: “The worst thing of the night, for sure, is the result, because the performance, the attitude, the dominance that we showed against one of the best teams in Europe in this stadium, I haven’t seen it in all the other games that I’ve watched.”

While no lasting damage was done to Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying to the knockout stages of the Champions League, Arteta’s side really do have to pull out of their traditional November tailspin, starting on Sunday at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.