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Inter are next in action against Sampdoria in Serie A at home on Saturday. Plzen are on the road in the Czech Liga against Ziln on the same day.
Inter Milan secure their place in the Champions League round of 16 with a 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen at San Siro. Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring before Edin Dzeko notched a brace either side of half-time. Romelu Lukaku then marked his return from injury to score the fourth with a clinical finish to mark a fine European night for the Nerazzurri.
90' + 4' FULL-TIME: INTER MILAN 4-0 VIKTORIA PLZEN
90' + 3' Lukaku heads over the bar from Asllani's free-kick in the final act of the game.
90' + 2' Inter are knocking the ball around the pitch at their leisure. It has been a perfect performance from the hosts tonight.
90' There will be three minutes of added time.
89' SAVE! Correa is denied by Stanek. Lukaku looks to return the favour to his team-mate with an incisive throughball to send him through on goal. Correa blasts his shot at goal on his right foot, only to be denied by the Plzen keeper.
J. Correa
Assist
87' Correa collects a pass from Lukaku and then feeds the Belgian's run in the box, who then applies the finish.
R. Lukaku
Goal
87' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! LUKAKU MARKS HIS RETURN WITH A GOAL!!!!!!!!! 4-0 INTER!!! The Belgian is back on the scoresheet after his injury lay-off with a brilliant left-footed finish. He plays a one-two with Correa before collecting in the box and drilling his effort into the bottom-left corner. A perfect way for Inter to wrap up the victory tonight.
85' Correa takes the ball off Gosens in the box after Barrella finds the wing-back, but the forward sees his effort charged down.
V. Pilař
A. Vlkanova
84' Vlkanova is withdrawn by the visitors and is replaced by Pilar.
84' Asllani whips the resulting corner into the box towards the near post. Stanek takes decisive action to come through a crowd to punch it clear.
R. Gagliardini
H. Mkhitaryan
83' Gagliardini enters the action to replace Mkhitaryan in the Inter midfield.
R. Lukaku
L. Martínez
83' Lukaku makes his return from injury and replaces Martinez for the closing stages.
81' SAVE! Inter break on the counter in search of a fourth goal. Dumfries collects on the left flank and cuts inside to fire on his right foot low and hard, only to see his effort palmed behind for a corner.
79' Inter will be looking to control the tempo of the game here with the result in hand. It has been a measured performance tonight from the hosts.
R. Gosens
F. Dimarco
77' Dimarco has been excellent tonight with an assist and he could well have had more along with a goal himself. Gosens replaces him.
76' Onana has to race off his line to clear ahead of Chory after being sold short by a backpass from Skriniar. Inter will want to see this one out with a clean sheet.
73' BLOCK! Space opens up for Vlkanova to strike at goal from the edge of the Inter box, but he sees his effort deflected wide of the target by Asllani.
K. Asllani
H. Çalhanoğlu
71' Asllani comes on for Calhanoglu, who has been extremely impressive for Inter tonight.
J. Correa
E. Džeko
71' Dzeko has been clinical tonight and is now replaced by Correa.
M. N'Diaye
L. Kalvach
70' Kalvach is replaced by N'Diaye for the visitors in the middle of the park.
68' Dzeko is now Inter's top scorer in the Champions League this season with three strikes to his name.
L. Martínez
Assist
66' Martinez latches on to Barella's ball over the top before cutting back to tee up Dzeko to score.
E. Džeko
Goal
66' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! DZEKO SCORES HIS SECOND!!!!!! 3-0 INTER!!! Dzeko surely puts the game beyond Plzen now with a precise left-footed finish. Barella opens up the visitors with a sublime ball over the top for Martinez. He turns and rolls a pass to Dzeko in space. The forward takes on the shot first time, finding the bottom-left corner with ease.
64' There has been a drop in the intensity of the game in the last few minutes. The first half was played at a frenetic pace, which could explain why.
62' Plzen are still in the game at 2-0 down. Inter will be desperate for the third goal to kill off the contest as the visitors have shown that they can be dangerous after scoring twice against Bayern last week.
60' Calhanoglu whips the resulting corner into the box that skims off the head of Skriniar. Dzeko collects, but he hammers his effort well over the top.
58' Dumfries works the give-and-go with Barella to surge down the right flank. He fires a dangerous cross towards the back post that Hejda steers behind ahead of the lurking presence of Dzeko.
57' ALMOST A GREAT INTER GOAL! Calhanoglu sends a long ball down the left flank that finds Dimarco in stride. He steers a first-time cross into the middle for Martinez to strike on the slide, but Stanek makes a sharp reaction save to deny the forward.
55' OFF THE POST! Mkhitaryan comes inches away from adding a third goal for the hosts. He turns to angle a right-footed strike towards goal that curls towards the target, but clips the outside of the right post and bounces clear.
53' Mkhitaryan releases Dimarco in the inside-left channel, but his cutback evades Dzeko in the middle allowing Jemelka to clear the danger.
V. Jemelka
M. Tijani
51' Jemelka replaces Tijani at the back for the visitors, who was struggling with a knock.
L. Pernica
Yellow Card
49' Pernica catches Dumfries late as he tries to attack a knockdown from Hejda in the Inter box. He goes into the book.
48' Skriniar has to put his body on the line at the back for the home side to deflect Vlkanova's left-footed strike wide of the target.
46' We're back under way at San Siro.
T. Chorý
F. Bassey
46' Fortune makes way for Chory in the final third.
L. Holík
E. Jirka
46' Jrika is withdrawn by the visitors at the break and is replaced by Holik.
Simone Inzaghi will know that he cannot take anything for granted at this stage, but his side have been dominant in the final third. If they replicate their first-half performance after the interval they will be in the round of 16 tonight.
Inter Milan are 45 minutes away from booking their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League after taking a 2-0 lead into the break against Viktoria Plzen. The hosts missed a number of chances to take the lead before Henrikh Mkhitaryan was on the spot with a header at the back post. Edin Dzeko then doubled their advantage, converting Federico Dimarco's cross from close range.
45' + 1' HALF-TIME: INTER 2-0 VIKTORIA PLZEN
J. Mosquera
Yellow Card
45' + 1' Mosquera blocks Onana's clearance as he tries to throw the ball out from the back and is booked.
45' There will be one minute of added time.
44' Fortune tries to respond for the visitors, but he strikes a tame effort at goal from 20 yards that Onana saves with ease.
F. Dimarco
Assist
42' Dimarco collects Barella's ball down the left flank before supplying a precise cross for Dzeko to convert.
E. Džeko
Goal
42' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!! DZEKO MAKES IT TWO!!!!!! INTER 2-0!!!!! The Nerazzurri take a huge stride towards securing their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League as Dzeko converts from close range. Barella releases Dimarco down the left flank and he takes the ball in stride before placing a perfect ball across the face of goal. Dzeko is there at the back post to notch a simple tap-in.
40' CHANCE! Dimarco hangs a cross into the box that Dumfries heads back towards him on the left flank. He goes again and finds Martinez, who blasts his left-footed strike into the side-netting.
38' Plzen win a corner down the left flank and it allows Vlkanova to whip a dangerous cross into the box that just evades Fortune in the middle.
37' Plzen have conceded 12 first-half goals in 5 games, more than any other team in the Champions League this season.
A. Bastoni
Assist
35' Bastoni makes a great run down the left flank and supplies a perfect delivery for Mkhitaryan to score.
H. Mkhitaryan
Goal
35' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! MKHITARYAN BREAKS THE DEADLOCK!!!! 1-0 INTER!!!!! The home side finally take the lead courtesy of a Mkhitaryan header as the pressure finally overwhelms the Plzen defence. Dimarco sends Bastoni down the left flank and he lifts a dangerous cross to the back post. It evades Dzeko, but Mkhitaryan attacks it and places his effort away from Stanek into the bottom-right corner. Relief for the hosts.
34' BLOCK! Hejda produces a brilliant block in the Plzen box to deflect Martinez's goalbound volley away from goal after he latches onto a precise cross from Mkhitaryan.
33' WIDE! Dzeko fails to convert from close range. Mkhitaryan and Dimarco combine down the left flank that sees the latter fire a low ball towards the near post. Dzeko meets it first-time, but places his effort wide of the left post.
30' Vlkanova attempts a very ambitious strike from distance, but he can only blast his effort high over the bar.
29' OFFSIDE! Dzeko and Martinez combine to release Mkhitaryan in the box with only Stanek to beat, but he places a tame effort straight at goal. He is relieved to see the offside flag raised.
27' Inter are asking serious questions of the Plzen defence, but have lacked the clinical edge to break the deadlock.
25' CHANCES! Dimarco and Mkhitaryan should put Inter ahead. Dzeko releases Dimarco in space in the box, but he sees his drive at goal blocked by Stanek. Bastoni sends a cross back into the middle for Mkhitaryan to attack, only to see his header saved by the Plzen keeper. Dimarco is first to the rebound, but he fails to convert by firing his second effort wide.
24' Mkhitaryan bursts into the box in the inside-left channel. He cuts a cross back towards the middle, but a white shirt is there first to clear.
22' OVER! Space opens up for Acerbi to bring the ball forward from the back. He launches a powerful drive at goal that sails narrowly over the bar. It was not a million miles away.
21' Dimarco collects on the left flank and sweeps a dangerous cross towards the near post that Hejda does well to clear from danger.
20' Martinez hooks an effort over the bar from Dumfries knockdown, but the Dutchman was offside in the build-up to spare the blushes of his team-mate.
18' BLOCK! Inter try a free-kick routine between Barella and Calhanoglu on the edge of the box, but the latter sees his right-footed strike charged down with ease.
16' Pernica brings down Martinez on the charge, bundling into the forward off the ball. Inter have a free-kick on the edge of the box.
14' Inter are pressing forward with plenty of men in attack, but it is leaving space. The Nerazzurri seem keen to get the early goal to take control of the contest.
12' Bastoni has to be alert at the back to clear behind for corner amid a probing run from Jirka down the right flank.
10' Bucaha works the ball to Mosquera, but he strikes an effort harmlessly wide of the target. There is encouragement out there for Plzen.
9' It has been an open start to the game. Inter are threatening with incisive passing, but there is space on the counter for the visitors.
7' Barella releases Dumfries in the inside-right channel, but his pass just has too much pace for the Netherlands international to complete a cutback into the middle. He can only smash his attempted cross into the side-netting.
6' Inter give the ball away on the edge of their own box, but Vlkanova cannot thread the needle to release Fortune in the box.
4' Bastoni sends Martinez into the inside-left channel, but he loses out to Hejda as he tries to beat the Plzen defender in the penalty area.
3' Dimarco finds space down the left flank and clips a cross into the middle that Martinez just cannot connect with a header in the six-yard area. It skims the top of his head before Mosquera concedes a corner.
1' Calhanoglu breaks down the left flank in space and lines up a drive that is charged down by Jirka on the edge of the Plzen box.
1' We're under way in this Champions League clash.
Viktoria Plzen have lost three of their four away European matches in Italy, with their other game a 3-0 victory at Napoli in February 2013 in the Europa League.
Plzen have made three changes to their side from their last outing against Banik Ostrava. Tijani slots into the defence, while Bassey and Jirka earn starts in the final third. Chory and Jemelka drop to the bench, but Jan Kliment misses the game due to injury.
Inter have made three changes to their side that defeated Fiorentina last time out. De Vrij, Darmian and Correa all drop to the bench. Bastoni is restored to the backline, while Darmian and Dzeko also return to the starting line-up. Lukaku returns from injury on the bench.
VIKTORIA PLZEN SUBS: Vaclav Pilar, Marian Tvrdon, Tomas Chory, Martin Jedlicka, Vaclav Jemelka, Ales Cermak, Libor Holik, Modou N'diaye.
VIKTORIA PLZEN (3-4-3): Jindrich Stanek; Lukas Hejda, Ludek Pernica, Mohamed Tijani; Milan Havel, Lukas Kalvach, Pavel Bucha, Jhon Mosquera; Erik Jirka, Adam Vlkanova, Fortune Akpan Bassey.
INTER MILAN SUBS: Samir Handanovic, Roberto Gagliardini, Stefan de Vrij, Robin Gosens, Joaquin Correa, Raoul Bellanova, Kristjan Asllani, Alex Cordaz, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Matteo Darmian, Romelu Lukaku.
INTER MILAN (3-5-2): Andre Onana; Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar, Francesco Acerbi; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco; Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Plzen are in a battle to finish with their Group C campaign by getting on the board. It was always going to be difficult for them in a group with outstanding sides. However, the Czech side have not cowed under the pressure and did produce a fine performance to make life interesting against Bayern last time out, losing 4-2 on home soil. The first contest against Inter was fairly close, suffering a 2-0 defeat. They do come into the match fresh off a confidence-building victory over Banik Ostrava in the Czech Liga last time out.
Inter can secure their place in the knockout phase of the competition with a victory tonight. The Nerazzurri almost booked their spot in the last 16, but a furious comeback by Barcelona at Camp Nou allowed the Catalan club to sneak a 3-3 draw to deny the Italian outfit. However, Simone Inzaghi’s men will feel confident of getting over the line, heading into the contest off the back of a dramatic 4-3 win over Fiorentina last time out in Serie A.
Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the Champions League Group C clash between Inter Milan and Viktoria Plzen at San Siro.
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