Late Lukaku goal helps Inter beat Porto 1-0 in Champions League

Romelu Lukaku is backAfter ending his goalscoring drought last weekend Lukaku scored late to fire Inter Milan to a 10 win over 10man Porto on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League roundof16 matchupThey were Lukakus first goals since October and took his tally to just four since returning from Chelsea in the offseason as the Belgium forward has struggled with injury and poor formWere really happy with the win it was too important to get a result said Lukaku who came on as a substituteWe wanted to score a second goal too but we still managed to win the match and Im happyI went through really difficult months with the injury but Im happy to be available again and happy to have helped get the win Im not individualistic I only think about Inter about doing the best for InterPorto midfielder Otaacutevio was sent off following a second yellow card 12 minutes from time He had received his first booking for a tussle with Inters Federico Dimarco at the end of the first halfThe second leg is on March 14 in PortoAlso readEdin Dzeko inspires Inter to Super Cup triumph over AC MilanI think it the second yellow was right but the last 10 minutes were difficult for us Porto coach Seacutergio Conceiccedilatildeo saidBut there were also Inter players that deserved to be booked Lautaro Martiacutenez should have got a yellow card and he wouldnt have played the return leg if he had I dont know if that was right you decideInter has lost only once since the beginning of November while Porto came into the match on a 22game unbeaten run and had only let in two goals in its past 11 matchesMartiacutenez was on a redhot scoring streak but in the 13th minute he headed over the bar from pointblank rangeInter went closer five minutes later but Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa reacted swiftly to punch Hakan Ccedilalhanoglus crossshot out from under the barPorto withstood the Inter pressure well and had a chance of its own in the 27th minute but Marko Grujic fired over the barThe visitors then had two opportunities in quick succession as Inter goalkeeper Andreacute Onana parried Grujics effort and Galeno nodded the rebound wideThe best chance and the best save of the half came in stoppage time as a free kick was whipped in from the right and Alessandro Bastoni seemed certain to score by the near post but Diogo Costa pushed his header away with his forearmIt was Onanas turn for heroics at the start of the second half with a double save to deny first Mehdi Taremi and then ZaiduLukaku replaced Edin Deko in the 58th and went close to breaking the deadlock but his crossshot flashed past Martiacutenezs outstretched leg and the far postHowever Lukaku then scored with four minutes remaining His header from Nicolograve Barellas cross came off the left post but he tucked away the reboundThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever