Yahoo Sports Champions League | Sparta Prague 0-1 Inter: Lautaro all but seals top 8 spot
A well-taken Lautaro Martinez volley proved enough to give Inter all three points away to Sparta Prague, as they effectively sweep into the Champions League Round of 16.
The Nerazzurri had conceded only one goal in six European games, during their 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, so knew a victory here would practically secure a top eight finish. Hakan Calhanoglu, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Bisseck were still out of action, but Marcus Thuram returned to the starting XI. The hosts missed Angelo Preciado, while Lukas Haraslin, Albion Rrahmani and Indrit Tuci were not fully fit either.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
Denzel Dumfries was rather harshly booked in the opening minutes for simulation, as he seemed to run into a defender and go down rather than specifically dive.
Inter broke the deadlock with a well-worked team move, as Lautaro Martinez spread it right to left through Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alessandro Bastoni, who floated a cross to the back stick for the captain’s sensational volley from the tightest of angles.
Benjamin Pavard got away with a risky back-pass too close to Veijko Birmancevic, while Kristjan Asllani ballooned over from inside the area.
Yann Sommer had to get down and block the Birmancevic chest and volley with one hand from 12 yards, then after the restart make another tough save from the tightest of angles on the same striker.
Inter thought they had doubled their lead when Federico Dimarco rolled across for Denzel Dumfries, who cut inside his defender to drill home from 12 yards. However, the goal was disallowed after a very long VAR check for his toes.
Dimarco smashed just over from the edge of the area and Davide Frattesi’s scorcher was palmed over the crossbar.
Lautaro Martinez 12 (I)
