. In the week that they were rocked by the surprise resignation of sporting director Edu, Arsenal surrendered their unbeaten record in the Champions League after Hakan Calhanoglu kept up his record of never having missed a penalty for Inter to score the only goal of a tightly contested game.
It was an exasperating occasion for Arteta, who was booked in the second half for handball and came close to being sent to the stands as his side searched for an equaliser. But despite a much-improved second-half display that saw the visitors rack up 13 corners to Inter’s none, they sank to a second successive 1-0 away defeat.
Arsenal’s last visit to face Inter in this cavernous arena nearly 21 years ago resulted in one of the most famous European nights in their history, with Edu starting in midfield alongside Ray Parlour as Arsène Wenger’s side recorded a memorable 5-1 win that was rounded off by a brilliant solo goal from Thierry Henry. After failing to win any of their past three Premier League matches, a return to continental action was welcomed by Arteta as “the sort of game that gets my blood pumping” and he would have been delighted to be able to name Martin Ødegaard as a substitute after the captain missed 12 games due to an ankle injury.
In the absence of Declan Rice, Thomas Partey reverted to a central midfield role while Ben White was able to start in a first-choice back four that had yet to concede a goal in the Champions League after three matches. Inter had also picked up three clean sheets but had scored two more goals than their opponents to sit just above them in the table. Their manager, Simone Inzaghi, rested five key players for their victory over Venezia on Sunday including Calhanoglu and Mehdi Taremi and they were restored to the starting lineup here.
Inzaghi had stated that his side would aim to retain possession to nullify Arsenal’s attacking threat but it was the Italian champions who took the initiative. …
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