Lautaro Martinez's first-half strike sealed a 1-0 win for Inter over Sparta Prague in the Champions League on Wednesday, keeping them on course for a top-eight spot. (More Football News)
The visitors bounced back from their defeat to Bayer Leverkusen last time out in the competition, moving up ꦺto fourth in the table.
Martinez volleyed home at the🐼 back post from the tightest of angles in the 12th minute, connecting with Alessandro Bastoni's cross. The ball bounced up and in off the underside of the crossbar, giving Peter Vindahl no chance.
The home s൩ide, who are now out of contention for a play-offs place, offered little in the way of a goal threat, fall𒉰ing to a fifth consecutive defeat in the competition.
Despite Sparta's second-half improvement, they♒ almost fell to a larger defeat as Denzel Dumfries neatly tucked the ball into the back of the net, only for it to be disallowed for offside following a𓆉 VAR review.
After keeping a sixth clean sheet in the competition, Inter can have confidence going into th🌼eir final fixture, where they can seal their automatic round of 16 place at home to Monaco next week.
Data Debrief: Martinez to the rescue
Inter were not quite at their best in the final third on Wednesday, but they did enough 🌳to get the three points on the board.
They managed just 0.87 expected goals against Sparta f𝓀rom 12 shots, with Martinez responsible for 0.37 of that. He also had the most shots (four) and shots on target (three) of any player on the pitch.
It was an important milestone for Martinez though, as he netted for the 14th time in the competiti𒐪on - he is now Inter's joi💖nt-best goalscorer in the Champions League, level with Adriano.
This is the fifth consecutive Champions League game that Inter have played that has finished 1-0 (W4 D1). Only two other teams in the history of the competi🍰tion have ever endured the same such run (Juventus in 2004-05 - W5 and Maccabi Haifa in 2009-10 - L5).
