Arnautovic turns the jeers to cheers
Austrian atones for slew of missed chances to leave Inter in ascendancy
Simone Inzaghi is ready to give Marko Arnautovic more game time after the wasteful Austria forward redeemed himself with the winning goal in Inter Milan’s 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Arnautovic won the last-16, firstleg clash at the San Siro after replacing the injured Marcus Thuram at halftime, and he is set for more minutes as his French teammate recovers and matches come thick and fast.
The 34-year-old, who has had a tough season, had frustrated home fans with a series of wasted opportunities including a dreadful miss just after the hour mark which had supporters’ heads in their hands.
“He will be really valuable to us as he has been up to now. He and Alexis Sanchez are doing well for how they work, how they train and how they are with teammates,” Inzaghi told reporters.
“He came into the match really well, we were disappointed for the chances he missed but strikers should worry when they’re not getting any opportunities.
“I was a striker, I had periods in which I didn’t have any chances and I was always more worried than when I did have them and I either had a great goalkeeper in front of me or I missed the target.”
Inzaghi said that he hoped to lose Thuram only “for a short period of time” before he has tests on the thigh injury which ended his match.
Atletico head coach Diego Simeone said that he is positive for next month’s return leg in Madrid despite his team not having a single shot on target on Tuesday.
“We didn’t have many chances unlike recent games. We controlled the match for long periods, but in the second half they created more chances,” he said.
“I’m optimistic, we lost today but we still have the home leg to play. We know what we’ll come up against, and how they play as we’ve just played them. Hopefully we’ll be able to take advantage.”
Misfiring Marko
The 34-year-old turned jeers into deafening cheers with his goal, which came after a series of missed opportunities left home fans wondering whether Inter would get the win its performance deserved.
His worst miss came just after the hour mark when he ballooned over a sitter, a dreadful finish which came before and after failed attempts to latch on to promising balls.
“It is certainly one of the most important goals of my career,”
Arnautovic told Sky Sports.
“In recent weeks I’ve missed a lot of chances. But the fans and the players showed they are behind me... It gave me the energy I needed to score the goal.”
Arnautovic has had a hard time since returning to Inter on loan from Bologna last summer and those misses further frustrated supporters. However, thanks to him, Simone Inzaghi’s side, which is nine points clear at the top of Serie A, takes a slender lead to Madrid where they will face Atletico in the decisive second leg on March 13.
Atletico has been a more attacking proposition this season but retreated into the dogged defensive mode more representative of Simeone’s long reign in Spain.
It could not keep Inter out and now has to overturn Tuesday’s result in order to reach the quarterfinals.
“We have to keep our heads up, there is one game left and we are going to do everything possible to get through,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak told Movistar.
“They had two or three chances when we weren’t perfect and in a game like this you have to be perfect all the time.”
Arnautovic redeemed
A cagey first half between two resolute teams left fans with little to shout about, with only a few pot shots getting supporters off their seats until the 36th minute, when Lautaro Martinez saw his powerful header from Nicolo Barella’s cross saved by Oblak.
Moments later Martinez left Inter fans with their heads in their hands after uncharacteristically wasting a golden opportunity to open the scoring.
Martinez was handed a clear-cut chance after Thuram intercepted Rodrigo De Paul’s wayward pass and burst toward Oblak’s goal, only for the Argentina forward to scuff his effort off Atletico defender Jose Maria Gimenez.
Thuram then had a powerful effort of his own easily saved by Oblak as Inter finished the opening half in the ascendancy.
However the France forward hurt his right thigh while taking that shot and he was replaced at halftime by match-winner Arnautovic, who three minutes after the break could not quite direct Federico Dimarco’s teasing cross on target.
Samuel Lino, who curled a decent effort wide in the first half, wasted Atletico’s best chance of the night in the 56th minute when he fluffed his finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with De Paul.
Arnautovic did himself no favors when he shot over the bar when it looked easier to score.
But he was mobbed by delighted teammates when he forced home the winner, which was just reward for a display which highlighted why Simeone said on Monday that Inter was one of the five best teams in Europe.
However the tight nature of the tie was evident when substitute Alvaro Morata headed wide when presented with a great chance to take Atletico back to the Spanish capital on level terms.