Inter 1-0 Southampton: Southampton punished as clinical Candreva wins it for Inter

[Keepman.]

Antonio Candreva of FC Internazionale celebrates his winning goal

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Antonio Candreva's fine finish saw a 10-man Inter Milan claim a fortunate Europa League victory over Southampton at the San Siro.

The English visitors were the better side for large portions of Thursday's game, with Jay Rodriguez having a shot cleared off the line in the first half and Virgil van Dijk and Charlie Austin both being denied late on.

Inter offered no attacking threat whatsoever prior to the half-time interval, but improved marginally after the break and took the lead when Candreva picked out the top corner with a terrific effort on the turn from a low cross that the Saints failed to cut out.

It was the Milan club's only shot on target in the entire match and a brief revival after taking the lead in the 68th minute came to an end just 10 minutes later when Marcelo Brozovic was sent for an early bath after his second yellow-card challenge of the game.

The Saints threw everything at the 10-man Inter defence late on, but Van Dijk and Austin both shot straight at goalkeeper Samir Handanovic with efforts from point-blank range, and Claude Puel's side were left to rue what might have been.

Claude Puel was left to wonder what might have been
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It was Southampton who dominated the first half, threatening early on with pace down the left as both Long and Rodriguez looked to exploit Inter's high-line defence.

The English side's dominance yielded its first great chance on 28 minutes when Rodriguez - so recently returned from his extended injury absence - managed to scramble a shot beyond the goalkeeper, only to see his dribbling effort hacked off the line.

A James Ward-Prowse effort fizzed narrowly over the bar moments later and Southampton's dominance continued for much of the rest of the first half. 

A Cuco Martina low cross into the box had slightly too much pace on it for a Saints team-mate to reach, while a glancing header from Long perfectly bisected the tiny gap between the far post and a lunging Rodriguez in arguably the best chance before the break.

The away side continued to dominate after the break, but Inter had upped the pace slightly prior to taking the lead through Candreva's wonderful finish and threatened far more after the goal.

That Inter revival was short-lived, however, as a sloppy challenge by Brozovic earned the midfielder a second booking.

Southampton pushed very hard for an equaliser that they richly deserved, but a combination of poor finishing and an inspired goalkeeping display ensured that Inter took all three points to breathe new life into Group K.