Inter Milan Hold Man City to Surprise 0-0 Draw in Champions League Opener

Soccer Football - Champions League - Manchester City v Inter Milan - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 18, 2024 Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan heads at goal REUTERS/Phil Noble
Soccer Football - Champions League - Manchester City v Inter Milan - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 18, 2024 Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan heads at goal REUTERS/Phil Noble
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Inter Milan Hold Man City to Surprise 0-0 Draw in Champions League Opener

Soccer Football - Champions League - Manchester City v Inter Milan - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 18, 2024 Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan heads at goal REUTERS/Phil Noble
Soccer Football - Champions League - Manchester City v Inter Milan - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - September 18, 2024 Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan heads at goal REUTERS/Phil Noble

Inter Milan escaped Etihad Stadium with a surprise 0-0 draw against Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, exacting a small measure of revenge for their narrow loss to Pep Guardiola's side in the 2023 final.

Both teams squandered numerous chances in a breathless back-and-forth affair. City were largely stalled by Inter's impressive discipline in defence, while Simone Inzaghi's Inter, who were dangerous on the break on a nervy night for both sides, were wayward with their finishing.

"We faced a really difficult team," Guardiola said, Reuters reported.

"I'm still really, really satisfied for the game we played, especially with how (Inter) defended, they are masters of that, so big, they help each other unbelievably. So you cannot expect to create a lot of chances."

Inzaghi was similarly pleased with his squad's night.

"I said 'well done guys', they put in a giant performance," the manager said. "I asked them to play exactly as they did. We all know Manchester City, what they are capable of, we knew we had to pull out all the stops, play a great game and we did it."

City's goal machine Erling Haaland, who would have become the fastest player in history to record 100 goals for a European club had he scored, will have to wait to achieve that milestone.

The Norwegian, who has nine goals in four Premier League games this season, narrowly missed a couple of first-half chances including a header that keeper Yann Sommer jumped up to grab on the line, and a hard, low shot that rolled just wide of the post.

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Henrikh Mkhitaryan had City fans breathing a huge sigh of relief when he missed a late chance, launching a rocket just over the bar from about eight metres out, then holding his head in disbelief.

At the other end, Ilkay Gundogan elicited huge groans from City fans after twice failing to convert with close-range headers in the dying seconds. He launched the first one straight at the keeper, with the second one glancing just over the bar right before the final whistle.

City fired 22 shots to Inter's 13, but only had one more shot on target than their visitors with five.

"A very intense game against a very strong opponent," City defender Ruben Dias told TNT.

"We knew what was coming, they're a top team as well, they're used to winning, and we knew we're not going to have an easy job. In the end, I think the team had a great performance, we were very close to scoring."

Under the new Champions League format, teams play eight matches against eight different opponents, with the top eight sides in the 36-team league automatically advancing to the last 16, and the next 16 playing a further knockout round.

"We prefer to win, but we have seven games (left to advance), we'll see what happens," Guardiola said.

It was a lacklustre performance for four-time defending English champions City, who are in a familiar spot sitting atop the Premier League table after four games with a 100% record. Inter are third in the Serie A table.

One negative on the night was a potential injury to City captain Kevin De Bruyne, who appeared to pick up a knock late in the first half and did not play in the second.

"I haven't spoken to the doctors yet," Guardiola said.

His team face another intense contest on Sunday when they host Arsenal, who sit two points behind them in the table.

City, who edged Inter 1-0 to hoist the 2023 Champions League trophy in Istanbul as part of their treble, were eliminated by eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of Europe's top competition last season, while Inter were ousted by Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.



Al Rajhi Takes over Dakar Rally Lead after Miserable Stage for Lategan

 Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
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Al Rajhi Takes over Dakar Rally Lead after Miserable Stage for Lategan

 Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally between Riyadh and Haradh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP)

Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi took advantage of a miserable stage by South Africa's Henk Lategan to grab the Dakar Rally lead in the Saudi Arabia desert on Tuesday.

Lategan led the Dakar for the past week, but errors and bad luck on the 357-kilometer ninth stage from Riyadh south-east to Haradh turned his overall lead of more than five minutes over Al Rajhi into a potentially decisive seven-minute deficit.

The rally has effectively two days and 400 kilometers remaining in the dunes of the Empty Quarter. The last day, Friday, is a ceremonial drive to the finish line in Shubaytah.

Al Rajhi, like Lategan, has never won the Dakar. This is the Saudi's 11th attempt with a best finish of third in 2022. He'd been lying second since last Wednesday. The title race appears to be between only them.

Third-placed Mattias Ekström of Sweden and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar were about 25 minutes behind.

“It's a bit of disaster to be honest,” Lategan said. “About 13 kilometers in we got lost. We thought we missed the waypoint but we actually had it. When we got lost we got one puncture and then towards the end we got another one and the wheel is actually flat. So, it was a messy, messy, messy day for us but it's not the end of the world, we're still in it.”

Lategan and navigator Brett Cummings were 11th on the stage and Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk third.

“We did a great job like we planned to,” Al Rajhi said. “We pushed well. We enjoyed it, that's the most important. I hope everything goes well the next two or three days to win the Dakar ... I will fight to win. It won't be easy.”

Al-Attiyah won the stage ahead of Belgium’s Guillaume de Mévius in under three hours to rise to one minute off third place overall.

His 49th car stage win, and first in the Dakar for Romanian manufacturer Dacia, lifted him to only one behind the record jointly held by Finland's Ari Vatanen and France's Stephane Peterhansel.

Sanders cushions motorbike lead Australian rider Daniel Sanders bolstered his motorbike lead to nearly 15 minutes when closest challenger, Spain's Tosha Schareina, crashed early.

The back wheel of Schareina's Honda hit a rock and sent him flying only 20 kilometers in. He resumed racing but the nearly four minutes he finished behind Sanders dropped him in the general standings.

Schareina's teammate Adrien van Beveren of France remained third, more than 20 minutes behind, while Sanders' KTM teammate Luciano Benavides of Argentina strengthened his position in fourth place by winning his second successive stage.

Benavides, thanks to collecting time bonuses of nearly five minutes by opening the way, beat Van Beveren by nearly two minutes, and repeated his win into Haradh two years ago. Sanders was third after leading until about 70 kilometers from the end.

“I only got lost a couple of times ... and lost a little bit of time,” Sanders said. “I could have pushed and made some more (time) but it's not too bad.”