Carlos Augusto struck against the run of play to give 10-man Inter a desperately-needed victory over Shakhtar Donetsk after Alessandro Bastoni saw red.
The Nerazzurri were desperate after losing both games to Real Madrid and Club Brugge, damaged by a series of individual errors. Lautaro Martinez, Curtis Jones, John Stones and Benjamin Pavard were injured, with the Milan Derby coming up this weekend, so Ange-Yoan Bonny was chosen upfront and Alessandro Bastoni shifted into the centre of a back three, with Djed Spence receiving his first start. Shakhtar Donetsk were unbeaten in the Champions League this season, drawing 1-1 away to PSV Eindhoven and beating AEK Athens 3-1. Eguinaldo, Marlon Santos and Irakli Azarovi missed out.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Petar Sucic intercepted a wayward Oleh Ocheretko pass out from the back to set up Marcus Thuram, the angled drive fingertipped round the post in the opening minutes.
Hakan Calhanoglu also drilled just wide, while Ange-Yoan Bonny stung the goalkeeper’s gloves at the base of the near post after controlling a Manuel Akanji floated pass.
On the resulting corner, an Akanji header down struck Marlon Gomes on the arm, but it was from point-blank range, so could not be a penalty.
Shakhtar Donetsk probably had Alisson Santana offside when he failed to connect with a through ball, but they were forced into a change when Pedrinho limped off with a muscular injury.
Kaua Elias robbed a rusty Spence on the edge of the area and his shot was deflected off Akanji, on the resulting corner Josep Martinez had to claw the Valeriy Bondar header off the line.
Another corner was knocked down for Ocheretko to control and drill inches wide of the near post from 10 yards, as Shakhtar ended the half as the stronger side and continued after the restart too.
When Alisson Santana performed a cheeky trick clasping the ball between his feet and jumping to get away from Federico Dimarco, Marcus Thuram reacted angrily by bringing him down and was booked for the ensuing scuffle.
Inter were deeply disappointing, so Cristian Chivu made a triple change on the hour mark and it sparked a response, the Thuram curler fingertipped round the post on the counter-attack.
However, just as they were trying to take control of the game, the frustration spilled out with Bastoni receiving two yellow cards in the space of two minutes. They were both for tussles with opponents, first Alisson Santana, then a shove on Ocheretko after a corner kick.
Down to 10 men and with Shakhtar Donetsk pushing, Inter instead responded by taking the lead.
Substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan made an immediate impact against his former club, launching the pass from the centre-circle to release Carlos Augusto, who knocked it down with his chest and drew out the goalkeeper, flicking the finish under him with the outside of the boot from 14 yards.
Less than 10 minutes after going down a man, Carlos Augusto gives Internazionale the lead
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It really should’ve been 2-0 on 84 minutes when Thuram shrugged off his marker to roll across for Mkhitaryan, but the veteran’s first touch was heavy and he could only drag it wide.
Instead, Josep Martinez had to make two big saves in quick succession. He got down brilliantly to fingertip the deflected Newertton strike round the base of the near post, then acrobatically denied the Mykola Matviyenko header from close range.
Inter 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Carlos Augusto 77 (I)
Sent off: Bastoni 68 (I)
Player statistic
| 36' | Oleg Ocheretko |
| Marcus Thuram | 54' | |||
| Alessandro Bastoni | 66' | |||
| Alessandro Bastoni |  |
68' | ||
| 68' | Marlon Gomes | |||
| Petar Sucic |  |
72' | ||
| Carlos Augusto (Assist: Henrikh Mkhitaryan) |
 |
77' |
