Inter Milan’s Champions League campaign was pulled back from the brink at San Siro, where Carlos Augusto struck after Alessandro Bastoni’s dismissal to secure a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Down to 10 men and still without a point after two league-phase defeats, Cristian Chivu’s side found the resilience required on a night that could have deepened their European crisis.
Quick facts
- Result: Inter Milan 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
- Competition: UEFA Champions League, league phase, matchday three
- Goal: Carlos Augusto, after Bastoni had been sent off
- Key performer: Josep Martínez made decisive saves before and after the interval
- Inter’s position: first Champions League win after defeats to Real Madrid and Club Brugge
- Shakhtar arrived with four points and a run of three domestic victories
Inter began with the urgency of a team whose European week had become a matter of survival. Marcus Thuram threatened early after a high recovery, but Dmytro Riznyk pushed away his low effort, while Hakan Çalhanoğlu fired over from distance.
Ange-Yoan Bonny then twice came close as the home side pressed Shakhtar back. Riznyk was required again, producing a sharp low save from Bonny’s attempt at the near post, but Inter’s initial intensity gradually faded.
Shakhtar, coached by Arda Turan, did not simply sit in Milan. Pedrinho tested Josep Martínez before leaving the match injured and in tears, with Yehor Nazaryna replacing him. The Ukrainian side increasingly controlled the ball and ended the opening half with their best spell.
Martínez preserved parity just before the break, turning away Valerii Bondar’s header from a corner. Oleh Ocheretko also went close as Inter, despite having more attempts, spent less time in possession and looked increasingly uncomfortable.
One moment of indiscipline, one decisive break
The second half initially offered little relief to Inter. Thuram had an isolated opening, but the match changed sharply when Bastoni collected a second yellow card for pushing Ocheretko off the ball around the neck area. The defender’s exit left the hosts facing the prospect of another damaging Champions League result.
Chivu had warned before kick-off that winning had to be the sole focus after two losses. “I never point at my players,” he said. “I take responsibility for what happens on the pitch.” His selection had featured four changes from the Serie A win over Bologna, with Bonny joining Thuram because Lautaro Martínez is unavailable until after the November international break.
Inter’s answer to Bastoni’s red card was immediate and emphatic. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, introduced for Bonny, threaded a fine pass into the run of Carlos Augusto. Arriving from deep, the Brazilian finished beneath Riznyk to give the 10 men a lead they had scarcely seemed likely to find.
Chivu had already reshaped his side, replacing Djed Spence, Federico Dimarco and Çalhanoğlu with Andy Diouf, Piotr Zieliński and Yann Bisseck. Luis Henrique later came on for Petar Sučić, while Mkhitaryan’s intervention gave Inter an unexpected route to protecting a result rather than chasing one.
Martínez stands firm
Shakhtar had long spells of possession after the goal, but Inter defended their area with growing resolve. The visitors introduced Lassina Traoré, Isaque and Newerton in search of an equaliser, while Bruninho replaced Alisson Santana late on.
Martínez became the defining figure of the closing phase. He made an outstanding low save to deny Newerton, then produced another intervention from the ensuing corner as Shakhtar pressed for the goal that would have undone Inter’s recovery.
There was still an opportunity for the hosts to put the game beyond doubt when Thuram delivered a low cross, only for the receiving Inter player to lose control with the finish available. It meant further pressure until Martínez gathered Shakhtar’s final cross and confirmed a hard-fought clean sheet.
Inter had entered the night bottom of their own expectations in Europe, having lost at the Bernabéu and suffered a 4-3 defeat against Club Brugge. Their defensive problems in that Brugge loss had made matchday three especially unforgiving, even as their Serie A form remained strong: they were level at the top with Lazio, having dropped points only once.
Shakhtar came to San Siro in a calmer position, on four points and leading their domestic league with eight wins and one defeat. Their recent victories over NKV, AEK and Kolos had suggested a side ready to challenge in Italy, and their control of large parts of the contest underlined that confidence.
But this was Inter’s week to rescue. Bastoni’s reckless red card threatened to define it; Carlos Augusto’s finish and Martínez’s late saves ensured instead that Chivu’s side finally have a Champions League victory, and a route back into their league-phase campaign.
