“I may be forced to leave Arsenal if they refuse to sell him in January…He was the reason we lose today’: Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta names ONE player who was responsible for Arsenal lose today
Arsenal’s poor run of form continued as they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Inter Milan in their Champions League clash after Hakan Calhanoglu’s spot kick brought the only goal of the contest.
Wednesday night’s contest marked just the third meeting between the two sides in the Champions League, the last of which came 21 years ago – the same season in which Arsenal became ‘The Invincibles’. That night, the Gunners dealt a star-powered Nerazzurri team a 5-1 hammer blow, after a brace from Thierry Henry, and goals from Freddie Ljungberg, Edu, and Robert Pirès sealed a historic victory at the San Siro.
Entering the match, Inter were ahead of Arsenal in the newly-formatted Champions League table on goal difference, with the two sides sitting in eighth and ninth place, respectively, but the Gunners’ hopes were boosted by the return of club captain Martin Odegaard from injury, though he was only fit enough to make the bench.
The home side thought they had scored the opener inside two minutes when Denzel Dumfries’ outside-footed effort rattled the crossbar, with Calhanoglu’s long-range strike glazing just past the post shortly after.
From then on, and for much of the first half, it was a very stop-start contest with the referee blowing his whistle for so many fouls instead of letting the game flow, with chances from both sides coming few and far between.
Arsenal did have a case for a penalty after Gabriel Martinelli‘s cross into the box wasn’t dealt with by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer, with it appearing as though his follow-through punch made contact with the head of Mikel Merino, though, a VAR check was swiftly cleared.
Arsenal piled on the pressure in the five minutes leading up to half-time with Jurrien Timber’s delivery into the box punched away – albeit not convincingly – by Sommer, which brought about three successive corners, though on this occasion, the Gunners couldn’t capitalise.
But, on the stroke of half-time, Inter were awarded a penalty after Calhanoglu’s free-kick struck Merino’s hand in the box, with the Turkish midfielder stepping up to take the spot kick, and slotting it away with ease to break the deadlock.
The Gunners started the second half of play brightly, earning their eighth corner of the game, but Inter were so disciplined off the ball, that they were able to command control back of the game fairly quickly… though it wouldn’t last.
A goal-saving clearance off the line from Dumfries was followed up by a stunning Somer save, with Arsenal beginning to ramp up the pressure on the Italian juggernauts. Kai Havertz thought he had scored when he was left all alone in the box to get his strike off, though Yann Bisseck came to the rescue and all but certainly prevented a goal with his point-blank range block.
Arsenal’s urgency in attack was relentless in the second-half, with Inter struggling to get out of their own half for much of it, though they held extremely firm with some crucial clearances from the defence, with Bisseck one of the standouts of the contest.
This win for Inter gives them their fourth clean sheet in a row, with them still yet to concede in this Champions League campaign, which sees them rise to fifth in the table, while Arsenal fall down to 12th.
