FC Porto and Inter Milan came into the game with set expectations but none necessarily brought the spark and electricity that the game needed.
The side from Portugal, FC Porto tutored by Sergio Conceicao went into the game with a 4-4-2 line-up, Diogo Costa started in goal for the side, in front of him were placed four defenders in Sanusi, Marcano, Cardoso and Pepe.
The midfield comprised of Eustaquio, Grujic, Uribe and Galeno. Evanilson alongside fiery forward Mehdi Taremi were partners in attack.
For the side from Italy, Inter Milan coached by Simone Inzaghi, Andre Onana was the goalkeeper for the game with Darmian, Acerbi and Bastoni as the defensive three.
In a choked five man midfield; Dimarco, Mkhitaryan Calhanoglu, Barella and Dumfries were put there with a partnership of Martinez and Dzeko in attack.
The away side got things underway at the Estadio Do Dragao in Porto, Portugal and it was more about not giving much room to their opposition so as not to cause an error that could lead to a goal.
Porto got the first big chance in the game as the ball bounced in the face of Uribe who was outside the box with the midfielder smashing a shot that eventually went wide of Andre Onana’s goal.
On the 19th minute, the home side desirous of changing the course of the game as Eustaquio took a touch before firing the ball to the bottom corner with Onana getting down to make a regular save.
Matteo Darmian picked up the game’s first yellow card on the 33rd minute after stopping Porto from going on the ascendency as he collided with Galeno.
7 minutes later, Dimarco saved his side as he made a huge block after the Portuguese side had played the ball nicely around the outside of the box of Inter Milan, Grujic then threads a through-ball down the right to locate Evanilson who had a nice shot at goal. However, Dimarco blocked the ball to send it wide.
It ended level pegging after the first 45 minute, both sides holding their own and not willing to relinquish that position for the other.
The second half commenced with FC Porto commencing action but the game continued to lack that cutting edge that would result in one of either side breaking the deadlock.
Edin Dzeko picked the 2nd card of the game and the 2nd yellow card for Inter Milan. He was yellow-carded for throwing an elbow in the face of Aquino.
A minute later, Romelu Lukaku replaced Edin Dzeko and Danilo D’Ambrosio came on for Federico Dimarco for Simone Inzaghi’s men.
FC Porto also responded with their own substitutions sending onto the field Andre Franco for Stephen Eustaquio and Antonio Martinez for Evanilson.
Bastoni picked up a slight knock and Stefan De Vrij came on to replace him on the 74th minute, a few minutes later Onana did enough to keep his side ahead on aggregate and in a comfortable position as the game reached its tail end.
Pepe got the first booking of the game for Porto and it was a yellow card after he dragged D’Ambrosio to the ground. Inter Milan responded with two additional substitutions in the dying embers of the Champions League encounter as Marcelo Brozovic came on to replace Nicolo Barella.
Matteo Darmian was also replaced by Milan Skrinair with Inzaghi intent on making the scoreline remain as it was before they came onto the pitch with more defensive bite and push.
5 minutes before the end of the game, FC Porto sent to the pitch Wendell to replace Sanusi while Danny Loader replaced Matheus Uribe.
As 90 minutes clocked Acerbi received a yellow card for wasting time which is a tactic he employed in putting his side in an advantageous position.
After 5 minutes of additional time, Mehdi Taremi tried to bring a glimmer of hope for Porto, as he fired a shot towards the bottom corner but Andre Onana does enough to parry it away, although, a heart-in-mouth moment occured as it struck the post.
The ball then returns to the box from the left hand side with Grujic jumping the highest and directing a header towards the goal but his chance smashed the bar.
In the last minute of additional time, Pepe picked up his second yellow on the night of UEFA Champions League action as he was sent off for a reckless challenge.
There were obviously a lot of if’s, but’s and maybe’s but it finished as it started. Inter Milan are the biggest winners of the night as they have qualified to the quarter-final of the Champions League for the first time since 2011.
The 1-0 victory secured at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium courtesy of a goal from Romelu Lukaku was enough to hand the side the passage to the next round.
Hakan Calhanoglu won the Man Of The Match due to his efforts assisting his side to gain qualification to the next stage of the competition.
