Bodo/Glimt just keep on defying the odds

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Inter Milan 1 - 2 Bodo/Glimt (Bodo/Glimt won 5-2 on aggregate)

Another extraordinary night for a club that keeps on defying the odds 

Author | Ed 

Stadium | San Siro

Bodo/Glimt players celebrate

Inter entered the knockout round play-off as three-time winners of the competition and with a commanding 10-point lead at the top of Serie A, status that made them overwhelming favourites for the tie.

But Bodø/Glimt, still in their winter off season, have built a reputation for confounding expectations during their debut campaign in the UEFA Champions League and delivered another landmark result.

Having already beaten Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the group stage, they added Inter Milan to the list with a 3-1 victory in the first leg.

They faced a barrage of attacks from the home side in the second leg

Inter peppered the Bodø/Glimt goal in the first half but the visitors remained resolute, repelling most of the pressure with Nikita Haikin alert to anything that did reach the target.

The goalkeeper produced two important early saves, first tipping over a curling effort from Federico Dimarco before denying Davide Frattesi with a sharp stop.

The defining moment arrived in the 58th minute. Manuel Akanji was caught in possession by Ole Didrik Blomberg, who drove into the penalty area. His shot was superbly saved by Yann Sommer, but Jens Petter Hauge followed up to volley home the rebound.

View from the stands at San Siro

It was Hauge’s sixth goal of this UEFA Champions League campaign, the highest tally by a Norwegian player for a Norwegian club in a single edition of the tournament.

Several Inter Milan players sank to the turf after the opener, aware that a demanding assignment had just become more severe. Akanji went close to redeeming himself when his effort struck the post, but Bodø removed any lingering doubt in the 72nd minute.

Hauge supplied a precise pass into the area for Håkon Evjen, who took a touch and finished emphatically beyond Sommer.

Alessandro Bastoni offered Inter a brief flicker of hope four minutes later, scrambling in to reduce the deficit, but it proved only a footnote.

The hosts, beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in last season’s final, ultimately had too much ground to make up. Bodø held firm to become the first Norwegian side to win a knockout tie at this level since Lillestrøm SK in the 1987 to 88 season.

Location: San Siro, Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy

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