Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
Rodri was the unlikely hero as Manchester City beat Inter Milan 1-0 to win the Champions League for the very first time and clinch a historic treble.
Boosted by the firepower of multiple talented players, Spaniard Rodri scored the only goal of the match in the 67th minute to clinch the Champions League title for City in Istanbul. The win saw City become just the second team to clinch a treble of the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League in the same season after Manchester United in 1999.
Coming into the contest as the favourites to clinch the Champions League, City did not have the best first 45 minutes. Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne did test Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana in the first half, but could not breach the goal Inter goal. The Italian side also had their fair share of chances on the counter-attack as they tried to test Ederson, who was caught napping at times. However, Inter’s inability to convert the half chances came back to daunt them.
In the second half, both teams played open football while City had already lost De Bruyne through injury. Edin Dzeko, former City man was replaced by Romelu Lukaku in the 55th minute and could have scored when Manuel Akanji failed to clear the ball at the hour mark. Lautaro Martínez failed to pass the ball to Lukaku when he was one-on-one with Ederson as Inter missed the biggest chance of the match.
However, it was in the 67th minute when the deadlock was broken as Rodri scored from the edge of the box as Inter failed to clear the ball. The Spaniard was unmarked on the edge of the box and would score the goal that clinched the treble.
City would then play with a defensive approach but could have lost the lead in the 70th minute when Federico Dimarco’s effort came off the crossbar, while Lukaku was in his way on the second attempt. Inter still had plenty of chances and in the dying moments missed a golden chance when Belgian Lukaku failed to score with his header. He directed his header straight at Ederson as City were given a massive reprieve.
Pep’s side would then hold on to the lead and clinch the treble which saw him become just the second manager after Sir Alex Ferguson to win the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League in the same season. Pep has also won his second treble as a manager having guided Barcelona to the same feat in the 2008-09 season. This is also the Spanaird’s third Champions League title having won the holy grail in 2009 and 2011, beating Manchester United on both occasions. He also bagged a domestic treble with City in 2019 when he won the Premier League, FA Cup, and the League Cup.
