Carlos Augusto makes up for Bastoni’s two yellow cards: Inter beats Shakhtar and gets off the mark in the Champions League

After narrow losses to Real Madrid and Club Brugge in the first two matchdays of the group stage, Inter earned their first three points of the season in Europe in a match that was anything but straightforward against Shakhtar Donetsk, defeating them 1-0 with the decisive goal—scored by Carlos Augusto—coming just minutes after Alessandro Bastoni was sent off for a second yellow card.

The Nerazzurri, knowing they absolutely had to win to avoid falling out of contention for a spot in the next round, started strong: Thuram in the 3rd minute and Calhanoglu in the 5th, however, failed to hit the target. In the 21st minute, a great save by Riznyk denied Bonny a goal, while Shakhtar only came to life toward the end of the first half, with Bondar’s header being denied by Pepo Martinez.

In the second half, Inter remained firmly in the attacking half, but even the substitutions (in the 59th minute, Zielinski, Diouf, and Bisseck came on for Calhanoglu, Spence, and Dimarco) didn’t seem to make a difference in breaking the deadlock. In the 68th minute, a dramatic turn of events: Bastoni, who had already been booked a couple of minutes earlier, received another yellow card from German referee Osmers and was sent off. Down to ten men, however, Inter found the goal in the 77th minute: Mkhitaryan, who had just come on for Bonny, delivered a precise pass to Carlos Augusto, who controlled the ball in the box and fired it into the net.

Shakhtar was shaken by the goal and, aside from a shot by Matvienko in the 88th minute that was saved by Martinez, failed to create any real danger. Inter thus secured the victory, earning their first three points in the standings. The Nerazzurri, who now face league matches against Fiorentina (October 25), Venezia (October 28), and Milan (October 31), will return to Champions League action on November 3 in an away match against Feyenoord.