Football

Inter ease into quarter-finals with 2-1 win over Feyenoord

March 12, 2025 9:41 am

[Source: Reuters]

Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu were on target as Inter Milan beat Feyenoord 2-1 in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the San Siro this morning to advance comfortably into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate win.

Serie A leaders Inter will face Bundesliga table toppers Bayern Munich, who defeated Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 on aggregate, in the quarter-finals next month.

Three-time winners Inter last lifted the trophy in 2010, beating Bayern in the final in a treble-winning season, and Inzaghi’s side are still on course to repeat that feat, with a Coppa Italia semi-final also to come in April.

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Feyenoord keeper Timon Wellenreuther was in action early on, failing to hold a Henrikh Mkhitaryan shot but he did gather Carlos Augusto’s headed effort from the resulting corner.

Aymen Sliti, making his senior debut for the Dutch club, tried his luck from outside the area but Inter keeper Yann Sommer easily smothered the 18-year-old winger’s shot as Feyenoord looked to grab an early goal.

Feyenoord came into the game with an uphill task after losing 2-0 at home last week, and by the eighth minute they were left with a mountain to climb following Thuram’s superb solo goal.

Thuram, who also opened the scoring at De Kuip in the first leg, collected the ball on the left wing before cutting inside to the area and making room with some clever footwork for the shot which he curled into the far top corner.

Mehdi Taremi sent a shot straight at the keeper as Inter looked to put the tie even further out of reach but Feyenoord pulled one back three minutes before the break from the penalty spot.

Calhanoglu was penalised for a foul on Jakub Moder who picked himself up and sent his spot kick into the bottom corner to beat Sommer, just the second goal Inter have conceded in this season’s competition, and the first at the San Siro.

Any hope of a Feyenoord comeback all but ended when Calhanoglu made up for his mistake by converting his own penalty six minutes into the second half after Thomas Beelen fouled Taremi.

With Feyenoord taking risks in an effort to get something from the game, Inter were always dangerous on the counter and looked like they had another penalty but after a VAR check, Thuram was booked for simulation instead.

Thuram still received a standing ovation from the home crowd when replaced, having just struck a thunderous shot which bounced back off the underside of the crossbar, and Inter had little trouble seeing the game out.

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