Inter Milan Coach Simone Inzaghi: “Excellent Match, Deserved To Score Already In First Half, Substitutes All Did Well”

Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is very pleased with how his team performed in their 1-0 Champions League win over Porto, both in the first half and then after substitutes came on in the second.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster Amazon Prime, via FCInterNews, the coach stressed the view that the Nerazzurri’s first-half performance would have been worth a goal in itself before they eventually broke through late in the second.

Inter will have expected a tough match against Porto, and so it proved as the Portuguese champions put in strong defensive performance as a team capped off by some outstanding performances from their defenders and goalkeeper.

There were a couple decent chances in the first half from which the Nerazzurri failed to score, whilst there were some saves by Inter keeper Andre Onana at the other end.

In the end, it was the introduction of several Inter substitutes followed by the red card for Porto midfielder Otavio that really changed the complexion of the match and saw the Nerazzurri really pile on the pressure and break through.

“We played an excellent match against a team who are very physical,” Inzaghi said after the final whistle.

“In the first half there was some regret over the chances we passed up, in the second half we were at risk from some counterattacks, and then the substitutions helped us.”

“We would have liked to get an even better result, but it was a great match,” the coach emphasized.

Asked about the performances of Lukaku and Marcelo Brozovic from the bench, Inzaghi responded that “Everyone who came on did well, including Gosens and Dumfries.”

“We’re going to need absolutely everyone to give their best contributions given how many matches we have on the way, all played close together,” he added.

Of the first half, Inzaghi said that “We needed to build up possession quicker in the first phase of play.”

“Then, we probably should’ve picked up the pace when our opposition started to attack with more intensity, but we created a lot and would already have deserved to go ahead in the first half.”