Inter Milan revived its hope of advancing to the Champions League Round of 16 with a much-needed 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at the San Siro on Wednesday. Goals from the red-hot Lautaro Martínez and Antonio Candreva catapulted Inter up to second in Group F — three points behind leaders Barcelona — while Dortmund dropped to third.
Despite taking 58 percent of possession, Dortmund landed only two shots on target. Both those attempts came from 19-year-old phenom Jadon Sancho, but the first hardly troubled Samir Handanović from a tight angle and the second — Borussia’s best opportunity of the match — was cleared off the line by the warrior that is Diego Godín.
Rumor has it that Dortmund is keen to land José Mourinho as manager, and the Portuguese likely would’ve killed Nico Schulz for playing Martínez onside for Inter’s opener in the 22nd minute.
It was a nice pass over the top from Stefan de Vrij, but Martínez’s chest control and resulting finish was only made possible by Schulz’s awful positioning out wide.
Lautaro stays hot, fifth goal in four matches pic.twitter.com/G34gWMfP29
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) October 23, 2019
The 22-year-old Argentine is on one right now. He’s scored in his last four Inter appearances, including previous strikes against Barcelona, Juventus and Sassuolo. His record of nine goals in 15 Argentina appearances is also stunning, and you know he’s perfect for La Albiceleste because he was stonewalled from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute.
That penalty, however, was earned by the 17-year-old Sebastiano Esposito. Esposito entered the match in the 62nd minute as Romelu Lukaku’s replacement, becoming Inter’s youngest European debutant since 1981, and then he promptly skinned Mats Hummels.
Esposito vs Hummels pic.twitter.com/JTGK6yO6i4
— InterYaSoul (@InterYaSoul) October 23, 2019
But Roman Bürki’s wonderful stop kept Dortmund alive until Candreva punished them on the counter in the 89th minute. Marcelo Brozović supplied the pass.
Inter called game pic.twitter.com/jfX3ZhENhn
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) October 23, 2019
Much searching of the Google engine will now be done concerning Esposito, and it was a big night elsewhere for Europe’s young guns.
Over in Salzburg, it was 19-year-old strike force Erling Braut Håland who almost propelled Jesse Marsch’s American Bulls to a famous victory over Napoli. Håland scored a brace, but Napoli ultimately escaped with a 3-2 victory.
All Erling Håland does is score
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) October 23, 2019
Erling Håland now leads the Champions League with 6 goals scored...He's still 19
— Bleacher Report Live (@brlive) October 23, 2019
People are staying very calm about Håland.
That's only Haaland's 20th goal of the season... in 13 appearances. And he doesn't turn 20 until next summer...
Don't wanna overhype, but would be neat if Erling v Kylian turns out to be the next generation's Cristiano v Leo...
(*Redux of course... nothing will match CR v Messi)— Gabriele Marcotti (@Marcotti) October 23, 2019
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