Riyadh, Dec 20 (IANS) Inter Milan knocked out of the Supercoppa Italiana after losing to Bologna on penalties in the semifinal.

Despite a solid performance, the Nerazzurri were held to a 1–1 draw by Bologna after 90 minutes. Inter created plenty of chances, but were ultimately beaten by the Rossoblu in the penalty shoot-out.

Thuram’s early opener is cancelled out by Orsolini from the spot. During the penalty shootout, Bastoni, Barella and Bonny miss, as Bologna advance to the final against Napoli.

The match started in spectacular fashion, with Thuram’s thunderbolt after just over a minute, only for Bologna to level in the 35th minute through Orsolini, converting a penalty awarded for a handball by Bisseck after a VAR review.

In the second half, Inter came close to snatching the winner multiple times, with Ravaglia making excellent stops to deny Luis Henrique, Dimarco, and Lautaro, who came on after the break. At the death, Martínez pulled off a superb save against Fabbian to keep the score at 1–1.

The penalty shootout, however, swung in Bologna’s favour. After Lautaro scored, Inter missed three in a row — Bastoni and Bonny saw their efforts saved, while Barella fired over. Bologna faltered with Moro and Miranda, but Immobile found the net to send Italiano’s side through to the final against Napoli.

After the final whistle, Henrikh Mkhitaryan commented on the match against Bologna and said, “We should have killed it off earlier; once it goes to penalties, it’s a different story. The whole team played well up until the shoot-out. In the second half we dominated the game and created a lot, but if you don’t take your chances, it costs you – that’s football. We’re sorry about that.”

“We have to work on closing matches out as early as possible, because when you create that much you should put it to bed, and we also have to believe we can win games even when we concede or go through difficult moments.

Bologna were here on merit after winning the Coppa Italia. We tried to win and didn’t – this is football. There’s no need for excuses or justifications: we have a lot to work on for what lies ahead. It hurts, it’s a big disappointment, but we know what we need to do and we’ll work harder to achieve our objectives.

“We have to forget this match, even though there’s disappointment. Now we focus on Atalanta – different competition, and the importance of points to keep moving forward,” he added.

–IANS

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