Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries revealed his delight at netting the first double of his career as Inter Milan beat Atalanta 2-0 in Riyadh to earn a place in the Italian Supercoppa final.
The right wing-back’s first goal at Al Awwal Park came just after half time when he chested the ball in the air with his back to goal before acrobatically swivelling and volleying into the goal. The second arrived on the hour mark from the edge of the box when he expertly sidefooted into the net off the underside of the bar from Federico Di Marco’s pass.
Inter will play either Juventus or AC Milan, who meet Friday, in the final as they look to secure a third Supercoppa in a row in Riyadh. Inter beat city rivals AC Milan 3-0 in 2022 and Napoli 1-0 last year in Riyadh. Another Italian Super Cup victory would equal a record four in succession for Inter, having beaten Juventus in Italy in 2021.
Dumfries said: “Yes, this is the first time I’ve scored two goals in my career; I’m very happy about it – but it’s not my best night. We will now focus, and we will do our best during the next game in the final. We will see tomorrow who we face in the final, it’s not our game. We lost against Milan, we drew against Juventus [in Serie A], but they are both important teams.”
Simone Inzaghi, the Inter Milan manager, praised the performance of his team on a night when they could have scored more than two.
“We got a great approach in the game. Excellent motivation, right mindset, and I praised the whole team," Inzaghi said.
"We have taken just one step, and we will wait the next game on Monday. Winning the Supercup is getting hard as we play two games within three to four days. I did many finals thanks to those guys. Tomorrow, whoever deserves it more will play against us.”
Gian Piero Gasperini, the Atalanta manager, said: “Inter is strong, the strongest at the moment. We were close, and at the league we will be even closer. I’m satisfied because it has been a chance to try different players. We created many chances in the second half.”
Inter’s strength was shown through Lautaro Martinez, the scorer of the winning goal in the Supercoppa triumph in Riyadh last year, having five opportunities to net in the first half. In the opening minute both he and Nicolo Barella had shots blocked from close range. The Argentina World Cup winner then saw his volley into the ground tipped away by the leaping Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.
Giorgio Scalvini passed up a golden opportunity for Atalanta when he headed straight at Yann Sommer unmarked from close range, before Carnesecchi saved from first Martinez and then Federico Di Marco on the rebound.
In the 39thminute, Martinez drove over when well positioned at the edge of the box.
If Inter should have netted in the first half, they made no mistake in the second thanks to deadly Dumfries, who has now claimed five goals this season for Inter.
Martinez had three other opportunities to net in the second period – shooting over, forcing a great save from point blank range and dragging wide in injury time. Atalanta had a goal from Ederson disallowed by VAR for an offside call on 72 minutes, while Berat Djimsiti poked over from near the goal line after Sommer had saved from both him and Ademola Lookman in injury time.
