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Manchester City survived a late barrage in the final minutes to create history and seal their first-ever UEFA Champions League trophy with Rodri scoring the only goal against Inter at the Atatruk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday (June 10) night. In doing so, they also become the second English team to complete a European Treble after Manchester United in 1999.
The win also means that Pep Guardiola becomes just the second manager to win the treble, having achieved the same feat with Barcelona in the 2008-09 season.
Manchester City dominate first half
The first half was a drab affair, with Manchester City expectedly dominating the possession. Inter's defense has been their specialty this season and this continued in the Champions League final as well.
Both teams has open chances but were unable to break through the opponent defence. Seven minues in and Bernardo Silva attempted a shot from the inside channel, goalkeeper Andre Onana came close but the ball fizzed just past the far post.
In the 28th minute Onana was finally called into action for the first time. Haaland latched on to a pass from Kevin de Bruyne and his left-footer was stopped by the Cameroonian shot-stopper.
The Belgian again took a shot which was comfortably saved by Onana but an injury to him in the 31st minute hurt him badly. He tried to go on but failed to do so, eventually being substituted by Phil Foden.
Inter take over in second half
The second half followed a similar pattern but Inter turned out to be the aggressor as they began to look more attacking and dangerous in the final third. This was encapsulated in the 58th minute, when Manuel Akanji reacted slowly to a Silva pass and gave the ball straight to Lautaro Martinez. However, the Argentine chose to go for the shot from a tight angle instead of trying to find his teammate Romelu Lukaku as Ederson made a comfortable save.
Soon after, defender Alessandro Bastoni made almost conceded an own goal from a John Stones cross which deflected close by. But then, the breakthrough finally came in the 68th minute.
Akanji played a key pass to pick out Silva. The midfielder's cutback fell to Spaniard Rodri, whose precise low curler into the net beat two Inter players as Onana failed to read the low driven shot on time.
Then Lukaku found himself in between his teammate's header just minutes after Inter conceded. Federico di Marco's looped header hit the crossbar and fell back in the wingback's head. This time, his header was on target but was cleared away by none other than his own teammate as Inter missed an early chance to equalise.
Then, Foden had a chance to put City in control late in the game when he burst through a gap into the area but Onana got down well to save.
City survived a late scare when a Lukaku header hit Ederson’s legs and was put behind by Ruben Dias and the final whistle was greeted by jubilant celebrations.
