Stevan Jovetic Inter Milan's hero with late winning goal on his debut

Updated: May 17, 2023, 06:14 am

On-loan Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic struck at the death to hand Inter Milan a 1-0 victory over 10-man Atalanta in their Serie A opener at the San Siro.

Jovetic, who replaced the injured Mauro Icardi early in the first half, was left unmarked inside the Atalanta area and fired a right-footed shot past a helpless Marco Sportiello in the visiting goal.

The Montenegro international's last-gasp winner came four minutes after Inter forward Rodrigo Palacio had rattled the post with a close-range effort, a missed chance that looked like it might cost the hosts victory until Jovetic popped up.

Atalanta had been reduced to 10 men by that stage with Carlos Carmona having been sent off in the 71st minute for a second bookable offence after a late challenge on Inter's Marcelo Brozovic.

The win will be a relief for Inter coach Roberto Mancini, whose team went into its first league game of the 2015-16 campaign on the back of four defeats in their last five pre-season games.

Stevan Jovetic is mobbed after popping up with the winner.
Claudio Villa - Inter/Getty Images

New Inter signings Geoffrey Kondogbia and Joao Miranda were handed Serie A debuts and both played from the start.

Atalanta, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, created the first opportunity of the match in the third minute only for Alejandro Gomez's right-footed shot to go over the bar.

Midway through the first half, Jovetic drilled a right-footed shot from 20 yards that was saved by Sportiello.

Kondogbia then twice had the chance to put the hosts ahead before the interval, but both efforts - a left-footed strike from 10 yards followed by a shot from outside the area - were kept out by Sportiello.

Kondogbia continued to create trouble for Atalanta after the re-start with the Frenchman forcing Sportiello to dive to his right to clear his bullet strike from distance in the 50th minute.

Despite Carmona's sending-off, Atalanta held Inter out until the last minute of the game.

An unmarked Jovetic then came to the rescue, curling a right-footed shot from the edge of the box into the top corner of goal to secure victory for Inter.