Inter 1–0 Shakhtar: ten-man win masks a squad still finding its balance

Inter won a Champions League match for the first time this season on Wednesday night, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 1–0 at the Giuseppe Meazza through a Carlos Augusto goal in the 77th minute, assisted by Henrikh Mkhitaryan. They did it with ten men, after Alessandro Bastoni was sent off in the 68th minute for two yellow cards in the space of three minutes. It was a result that keeps the campaign alive, and a performance that leaves plenty unresolved.

The context matters. Inter had lost their first two matches of this season's league phase, including a 4–3 home defeat to Club Brugge, and had won only one of their previous eight Champions League matches. Shakhtar arrived unbeaten. By the end, Inter had three points and Shakhtar four, and Cristian Chivu's side had something to build on before their next fixture, away to Feyenoord on 3 November.

Look past the result and the shape of the match is uncomfortable. Inter had 45 per cent possession, against an average of 58.8 across their earlier matches this season in all competitions. They managed 13 shots, against an average of 21.8. They recorded 28 touches in the opposition box, against an average of 39. Their expected goals figure was 0.99, against an average of 3.16, with 0.91 of that coming from open play against an average of 2.42.

Shakhtar, meanwhile, had 55 per cent of the ball, 12 shots and four on target. Inter had five on target and the only big chance of the game. This was not a case of a dominant side being frustrated; it was a close, scrappy contest in which one moment of quality settled it. The raw numbers do not describe a team controlling matches the way it has for much of the season.

That gap between the usual output and this display is the real story. A win built on a late goal from a substitute, while a man down, is a win. It is not evidence that the underlying issues have been fixed.

Inter's summer business reshaped the group. Curtis Jones, Aleksandar Stanković, Yanis Massolin, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Ivan Provedel arrived. Davide Frattesi, Sebastiano Esposito, Denzel Dumfries, Issiaka Kamate and Franco Carboni left. Those departures are a candidate explanation for a shift in midfield and defensive balance compared with earlier successful periods, but the evidence from one match cannot establish that they caused anything. It is a question the coming weeks will answer, not a conclusion to be drawn now.

Bastoni's dismissal is part of the same uncertainty. Two yellow cards in three minutes is a one-off until it isn't. Whether it reflects a wider defensive fragility, or simply a bad few minutes from a defender, is something Feyenoord away will help clarify. Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard were unavailable for this match, which further complicates any read on the team's true level.

What is clear is that Mkhitaryan's introduction mattered. His assist for Augusto was the decisive contribution, and the goal came after Inter had gone a man down. That is a moment of individual quality rescuing a team performance that, by the numbers, was well below its own standard.

Chivu's side have kept their Champions League hopes alive. The harder task is showing that this was a step towards a functioning new balance rather than a result that papered over the absence of one.