Treble Winners: Man City Clinch First UCL Crown
11 June, 2023
Manchester City have secured their first UEFA Champions League title after defeating Inter Milan 1-0 in the final on Saturday night.
UEFA Champions League Final
Result: Manchester City 1-0 Inter Milan
Date: 10 June 2023
Venue: Atatürk Olympic Stadium
Pep Guardiola made two change from the FA Cup final last weekend, as Ederson returned in goals to replace Stefan Ortega and Manuel Akanji replaced Kyle Walker, while Inter went with Edin Dzeko instead of Romelu Lukaku upfront.
The game got off to a cagey start despite City seeing most of the ball, although Bernardo Silva did go close in the opening 10 minutes with a powerful strike that sailed just wide. Inter, meanwhile, did well to stifle the Man City attackers in the first half until the 26th minute when Kevin de Bruyne played in Erling Haaland, who took one touch before firing straight at Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana.
That proved to be De Bruyne's last major involvement as the Man City midfielder was forced off with an injury and replaced by Phil Foden for the final ten minutes of the second half.
It was sad moment for the Belgian attacker who also came off injured during the 2021 Champions final against Chelsea, who went on to secure a 1-0 win in Lisbon.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi made their first change ten minutes into the second half as Dzeko made way for Lukaku, who had scored five goals in his last five Serie A appearances.
However, it was Man City who got the breakthrough in the 67th minute when Silva raced to the byline before pulling the ball back for Rodri, who sent a first-time finish into the back of the net.
The Italians nearly got back on level terms three minutes later when Federico Dimarco's looping crashed against the crossbar while his rebound effort was unfortunately blocked by Lukaku.
Simone went for a final throw of the dice in the final ten minutes by introducing Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Danilo D'Ambrosio for Matteo Darmin and Hakan Çalhanoglu.
Lukaku should have brought his side level in the 89th minute after being left alone in the six-yard area, but the Inter striker somehow directed his straight at Ederson in front of the goal and City held on to claim their first Champions League title to complete the treble.
Here's how they lined up:
Manchester City: Ederson, Akanji, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
Inter Milan: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Çalhanoglu, Dimarco; Dzeko, Lautaro Martínez.
Source: www.snl24.com
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