SIMONE INZAGHI’S hand gesture backfired after his chosen player MISSED a penalty against Feyenoord in the Champions League.
With Inter Milan 2-0 up, goalscorer Marcus Thuram drew a foul in the box after Jeyland Mitchell clipped the back of the Frenchman’s leg in the 63rd minute.
After initially waving on, referee Espen Eskas overturned his decision after being sent to the monitor.
The camera panned to Inter boss Inzaghi who was holding seven fingers up to his players waiting near the penalty spot.
He was indicating he wanted midfielder Piotr Zielinski to take the spot-kick in the first-leg of their last-16 clash.
That’s despite talismanic striker Lautaro Martinez still being on the pitch.
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And, in a dramatic turn of events, Zielinski’s limp shot was easy kept out by goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther.
Inzaghi’s mistimed intervention came about because No.1 penalty taker Hakan Calhanoglu was sitting on the bench.
Zielinski had just returned to the starting line up at the expense of former Manchester United star Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Martinez scored his penalty in Argentina’s shootout victory over the Netherlands in the semi-final of the Qatar World Cup in 2022.
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He was also due to take the fifth spot-kick for Argentina in the final against France, but his country had already claimed a 4-2 win before his turn came.
Martinez doubled Inter’s lead in the 50th minute, after Thuram grabbed their opener.
Zielinski had scored his last two spot-kicks, both in the same game in a 4-4 thriller against Juventus in Serie A in October.
Usual penalty taker Halhanoglu has endured a torrid time in 2025 and was benched after coming off injured during Inter’s 1-1 draw against title rivals Napoli.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
