Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 (3-4 on pens) Inter Milan
Inter Milan won a penalty shoot-out to beat Spurs after a 1-1 draw in front of 58,000 fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs returned home after a long haul pre-season to conclude their International Champions Cup campaign. And they had a good test against an Inter side which is hard to break down. I Nerazzurri head coach Antonio Conte had plenty of tussles with Spurs during his time as Chelsea manager and his side deserved this result.
Having won the International Champions Cup last season Spurs have put up another decent showing, while ICC 2019 results have left Portuguese champions Benfica at the top of the pile. And for Inter, this was a fourth game in which they have limited their opponents to one goal or less, if they can find a cutting edge then I think they will be a serious force in Serie A this season.
Highlights of the game
In a bright opening from both sides, it looked like we were in for an entertaining afternoon. We only had to wait three minutes for the opener, and what a good goal it was. Spurs broke into the Inter half and with three on three Erik Lamela slid the ball wide to Moura who set himself and finished beautifully across Samir Handanovic and into the corner of the net. That made it three goals in three pre-season games for Moura, having netted in Spurs’ win over Juventus and loss to Manchester United.
Sebastiano Esposito created an opening for Inter, on 13 minutes, beating Danny Rose and crossing for Ivan Perisic who headed into the grateful Hugo Lloris’ arms. And Inter were desperately unlucky not to be level on the half-hour when attacking midfielder Marcelo Brozovic unleashed a wicked bending shot from all of 30 yards which left Lloris stranded but crashed back off the inside of the post.
But I Nerazzurri were level soon after and it was Stefano Sensi doing the damage, bursting forward and playing a swift one-two with Esposito before finishing with ease in the bottom corner.
Poch brought Christian Eriksen on at the start of the second half but the Dane looked off the pace and a little untidy in possession, and the Spurs coach can’t have been pleased with his side’s second-half opening. Inter had the first attempt, on 59 minutes, but Perisic couldn’t convert Sensi’s cross.
Spurs did find a response and almost restored their lead when Eriksen, starting to look more like, passed to Lamela whose effort was destined for the goal until Roberto Gagliardini made a superb block. Then Heung-Min Son, on as a substitute, tested Handanovic from a tight angle but the Inter keeper stood firm.
And so to penalties:
Eriksen stepped up to take the first spot-kick and missed with a limp attempt, but then Puskas missed for Inter.
Son, N’koudu and Alderweireld converted for Spurs, as did Rannochia, Dimarco and Politano for Inter.
Then Oliver Skipp missed his kick to leave Joao Mario to take the winning penalty.
Key Statistics
We went for a draw in our pre-match ICC 2019 betting tips, at odds of 3.50; and after a rather gentle second half, a 1-1 scoreline at 6.60 always looked likely.
As the game rather fizzled out there was a low shot-count with I Nerazzurri edging it by seven to six, and three to two on target.
This was the first drawn match between Spurs and Inter in seven, with each winning three; while Spurs is unbeaten at home to Inter ( in 90 minutes) in five matches.
What’s next?
Inter will hope to challenge Juventus this season in Serie A and played out a 1-1 draw with the Bianconeri in the ICC. Conte’s team has another friendly, away to La Liga’s Valencia, before returning to Milan for an opening league fixture at home to Lecce, who arrive in Serie A after back-to-back promotions.
It’s all bubbling up SBOBET football fans with Europe’s big leagues all just around the corner.
Next week Spurs opens its Premier League campaign with a home game against newly-promoted Aston Villa. The Villains have spent heavily in the summer and will be keen not to emulate Fulham, who took a similar approach last season and made a swift return to the Championship.
Mauricio Pochettino is about to embark on his sixth season at the North London club and surely he’ll want a trophy to show for his efforts sometime soon.
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