In a tough battle, Leverkusen prevailed late against Inter Milan. In the 90th minute, defender Nordi Mukiele scored the 1-0 winning goal. For Inter it was the first goal conceded in their sixth game in the premier class.
“It was a game in which you just had to be patient, we knew that and we were“said Joanthan Tah after the game.
For Leverkusen, Matěj Kovář replaced Lukáš Hrádecký between the posts again. In contrast to the 2-1 win in the league against St. Pauli, Nordi Mukiele and Jeremie Frimpong also moved into the first eleven. Striker Patrik Schick took a seat on the bench again after his injury.
Tella almost gives Bayer an early lead
It only took three minutes before Inter’s strong defensive line was almost overcome for the first time this Champions League season. After a deep pass to Frimpong and a subsequent cross, Nathan Tella hit the crossbar with a volley (3′).
Bayer remained under pressure in the first few minutes and pushed for an early lead. The Italian champions didn’t let themselves be disturbed even after the crossbar hit and stood deep and defensively stable as usual. Towards the end of the first quarter of an hour, the guests managed to move the game more and more into the midfield.
Palacios sets it too high
After 25 minutes things got a little heated. Florian Wirtz and ex-Gladbach player Marcus Thuram clashed. Hakan Calhanoglu also got involved, complained to referee Slavko Vinic and was shown a yellow card.
Shortly afterwards, Exequiel Palacios took heart and fired the ball from the right corner of the box just over the goal (27th). Leverkusen couldn’t think of anything else until the break, and Inter also remained harmless offensively.
Mukiele with the late redemption
Almost ten minutes after the restart, Wirtz had a Wirtz moment. At the right moment, the international player lobbed the ball into Frimpong’s path. The substitute winger shot the ball past the goal from his run to the left (53′). But even in the second half the typical picture that emerges when Inter Milan plays the Champions League remained. The “Nerazzurri” were compact at the back and Leverkusen were desperately looking for a gap.
The Werkself finally found it in the 90th minute. After a corner, Mukiele first hit a hole in the air with an overhead kick, but then grabbed a shot and converted to make the final score 1-0. Leverkusen survived injury time without any major upsets.
With their fourth win in their sixth Champions League game, Leverkusen overtook Inter Milan in the table and moved up to second place.