Haaland And Martinez Failed To Score Goals, Man City Arrested By Inter Milan
JAKARTA - Manchester City and Inter Milan were only able to draw 0-0 in the first match of the Champions League at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Thursday, September 19, 2024 in the morning WIB. Man City's mainstay goal engine Erling Haaland and Lautaro Martinez, Inter striker, both failed to show their sharpness.
The 2023 Champions League final re-match is presented at the Etihad. In the final match in Istanbul, Turkey, Man City won 1-0 which brought the English Premier League club for the first time to win a wide-early trophy.
It didn't stop there, Man City also recorded a treble. They followed in the footsteps of one city rival Manchester United, who won three trophies in a season in 1999.
When the two teams meet again, the match is expected to continue to be tight. Moreover, the Man City and Inter squad has not changed much over the last two years. The team is also handled by the same coach.
It's just that, both Man City and Inter failed to meet goal targets in the first match of the Champions League with this new format. Man City actually excels in possession of the ball and is more actively putting pressure on it. There were more shots against the Cityzens than Inter.
However, the rearline of Inter, which was held by defender Alessandro Bastoni, is very disciplined. In addition, goalkeeper Yann Sommer showed his best performance and made a number of impressive saves that prevented Haaland from scoring.
Haaland actually continued to show his greatness in the English Premier League competition. He has packed nine when the league had only played five matches. This Norwegian national team striker also has the ambition to set a record as the fastest player to score 100 goals in European competitions.
But he failed to do so so he had to wait to reach the milestone. In that match, Haaland was recorded twice as having a good chance in the first half. Including his header which almost rolled hard at Inter's goal if Sommer didn't jump to ward it off. Haaland's second chance still failed after his shot went wide.
In the second half, Man City continued to play with high intensity. However, Ilkay Gundogan et al have begun to get frustrated because they cannot penetrate the strong defense of the Nerazzurri.
Even the home goal almost conceded when midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan fired hard into the net. Luckily, the former MU player's shot was thin past the crossbar.
Coach Simone Inzaghi hopes Inter can be sharper when loading Martinez in the 66th minute. But Martinez, who replaces Marcus Thuram, failed to meet expectations. Even this Argentine national team striker rarely gets a chance that can be converted into a goal.
Man City still had their last two chances through Gundogan in injury time. It's just that the header of the midfielder who returned from Barcelona could still be thwarted by Sommer. Furthermore, this shot from close range from the former German national team player went wide on Ederson's side of the goal.
Man City actually fired 22 shots into the Inter goal. But only six kicks hit the target. Meanwhile, Inter only did it 13 times with five kicks hitting the target.
Despite failing to win while competing at home, manager Pep Guardiola was not disappointed. The reason is, they face opponents who have a very strong defense.
"We certainly want to win. But I'm not disappointed because they defended very well. In addition, we have not yet reached the peak of our performance," Guardiola was quoted as saying on the UEFA website.
"A very tight match and we face an opponent who is no less strong," Man City defender Ruben Dias added. He said Inter was clearly not a light opponent for Man City.
"We know who we are facing. They are also the best team and are used to winning. We also realize this match will not be easy. For me, the team continues to play well and almost wins," said Dias again.
After facing Inter in the Champions League, Man City again met tough opponents in domestic competitions. They hosted Arsenal's tough team, Sunday, September 22, 2024 evening WIB.
Meanwhile Inter also meet tough opponents. They face city rivals AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina. Inter acted as hosts in the first edition of this season's derby.