Inter beat Arsenal with controversial penalty
Inter Milan 1 - 0 Arsenal
Arsenal's unbeaten run in this season’s Champions League came to a frustrating end at the San Siro, as a contentious first-half penalty handed Inter Milan a narrow victory.
Just before half-time, Inter were awarded a penalty when Mikel Merino was judged to have handled the ball following a flick-on from Mehdi Taremi. While there seemed little Merino could do to avoid it, VAR upheld the decision, and Hakan Calhanoglu confidently slotted the penalty down the middle.
This marked Arsenal’s first goal conceded in Europe this season, yet they had ample time to respond. They came close in the second half, with Gabriel’s header from a corner cleared off the line by Denzel Dumfries. Arsenal kept the pressure on, with Inter’s keeper, Yann Sommer, making an outstanding one-handed save to deny Kai Havertz’s curling effort.
Havertz nearly found the net again, only to have his shot expertly blocked by Yann Bisseck. Despite their dominance in the second half, Mikel Arteta’s side suffered their first European defeat of the season, dropping them to 12th in the 36-team league.
Does Arteta need to have a rethink?
The Arsenal Twitter/X account posted the thoughts of their boss after the match.
💬 "We still have half the competition to play and if we continue to play the way we did today, we will win a lot of games.”
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 6, 2024
🎙️ Mikel assesses tonight's defeat to Inter Milan 👇
The loss adds to what has been a challenging few weeks for Arsenal, who are now three games without a win in the Premier League, leaving them fifth and seven points adrift of leaders Liverpool. A string of injuries has also hampered their form, notably the absence of captain Martin Odegaard, sidelined with an ankle injury since late August.
Odegaard’s return to training this week was a positive boost, and he was fit enough for a place on the bench against Inter. Arsenal had hoped to carry their strong European form forward, having been unbeaten in three previous Champions League matches, including a commanding 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain. However, Inter—having won seven of their last eight games across all competitions—presented Arsenal with one of their toughest tests yet.
While Inter started brightly, Arsenal eventually asserted control and created numerous chances, a marked improvement on their lacklustre showing against Newcastle the previous weekend. Ultimately, though, the Gunners were thwarted by a dubious penalty call and several superb saves and last-ditch tackles from the hosts.
Despite the defeat, Arsenal can draw positives from the performance as they aim to revitalise their Premier League campaign. With key players like Odegaard returning, there is renewed optimism. Although his introduction two minutes into stoppage time didn’t impact this match, fans will be hopeful of seeing more of him when Arsenal face Chelsea in the league on Sunday.
Clips from the crowd
The iconic San Siro can often create a fantastic atmosphere and this match against Arsenal was no different. Check out some of the clips in the video below, this was uploaded onto the European Super Football YouTube account.
Arsenal fan analysis
We caught up with one Arsenal fan through social media after the match. He believed this was a decent performance from Arsenal, despite the defeat, but there is a lot still to work on.
He said: "Overall, we weren’t at our best, but we were certainly much better than against Newcastle and largely dominated play. The game state may have played a part, with Inter sitting back defensively, but we had nearly all of the possession and the better chances. While Inter initially rested some of their key players, they brought most of them on in the second half, yet it didn’t change the flow of the game."
