Alvarez reached 10 UEFA Champions League goals for Atletico Madrid in 14 appearances
His opener, however, was initially ruled out for handball before being awarded after review
Inter Milan responded with a Zielinski goal, but Atleti sealed the win with a Gimenez header
Jose Maria Gimenez netted a 93rd-minute winner as Atletico Madrid sealed a narrow 2–1 victory over Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico made a fast start at the Metropolitano, courtesy of another goal from talisman Julian Alvarez, who poked into the far corner from a tight angle off the right nine minutes in.
The goal was initially ruled out for handball before being awarded following a VAR review.
Hakan Calhanoglu struck a 20-yard drive towards the bottom corner as Inter rallied to keep their perfect run alive, forcing Juan Musso into a scrambling save after 20 minutes.
Atletico survived a major scare a minute after the restart when Nicolo Barella's close-range lob clipped the top of the crossbar.
The Nerazzurri finally hit back in the 54th minute, as substitute Ange-Yoan Bonny teed up Piotr Zielinski, who strode onto the ball and swept a clinical first-time finish into the bottom-right corner.
As it so often has this season, Antoine Griezmann’s late introduction sparked Atleti to life as the Frenchman forced a stretching save from Yann Sommer from point-blank range.
And Griezmann supplied the moment of match-winning quality in the 93rd minute, as his pinpoint corner was met by Gimenez, sending the Metropolitano faithful into raptures.
Atletico sit 12th in the Champions League standings following their win, while Inter are still sitting pretty in fourth place.
Data Debrief: Alvarez hits double figures as Inter lose two straight
Alvarez’s opener was his 10th Champions League goal for Atletico in just 14 appearances, making him only the third player to reach double figures for the club in the competition after Antoine Griezmann (39) and Saul Niguez (11).
Inter, meanwhile, might feel they should have got more from the clash as they produced 1.36 expected goals (xG) to Atletico’s 0.99 xG.
Wednesday’s loss also marks only the second time Inter have suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions under Cristian Chivu, the previous instance coming between August and September, against Udinese and Juventus in Serie A.
