A Trapattoni evening, Italian style. Hakan Calhanoglu scores from a penalty kick at the end of the first half, then theInter spends the entire second half clinging to his own half of the pitch and eventually takes it home. 1-0 at Arsenal for the Nerazzurri, who together with Atalanta represent the only two teams still with zero goals conceded in the entire Champions League. The three points bring the Italian champion team’s tally in the standings to ten.
Bisseck and Darmian cancel Saka. On an evening like this, the defenders get excited. The Inter left-wing chain, feared by its opponents for its offensive capacity, for once transforms itself into an impregnable fort: 7.5 on the report card for Bisseck and Darmian. Bukayo Saka, captain of the Gunners: 5.
Simone Inzaghi’s satisfaction: “”It’s a complete team, unfortunately we had some problems at the start of the season. Now we are on the twentieth day and we are at six games, now there will be the seventh and we have spent a lot. There was a need for a change, but if I had had Calhanoglu, Acerbi, Carlos from the start, the rotations would have been wider. Without them, I brought four players who brought a lot, plus Barella who always played from the start in these matches. Tonight was a very demanding match, we played an intense match against a team that doesn’t let you breathe, it impressed me and I congratulate the boys – says the Inter coach in the press conference – we won against one of the strongest teams, Arsenal impressed me. Bisseck? He’s very strong, his problem is that he has other players in front of him.”
The Mikel Arteta controversy: “The worst thing about this evening is the result, we played well and we could have scored two goals – says the coach Gunners – I didn’t understand the referee’s decisions, I didn’t understand the penalty and I didn’t understand why we weren’t given a penalty when Merino was hit in the face (by Sommer coming out high, ed.). There is nothing we can do about it, unfortunately we have to accept and move on.”