International 5-0 Shakhtar Donetsk: Europa League semi-final – as it happened | Football

Antonio Conte leads by weighing both fists in no time. Luis Castro angrily slips on his coat with the ghostly air of a man who has just been told to clear his desk. However, he offers Conte his warmest congratulations, and both sets of players shake hands and swap shirts. Every Inter face carries the widest smile. They really wanted this and got their reward; Lautaro Martinez was a disappointment, however. However, Shakhtar was strangely passive and the best team won without a doubt. Despite that, they will always wonder what would have happened if Junior Moraes had scored that close-range, close-range header. In the meantime, consider their first European final since winning the 2010 Champions League. One of the giants of football is stirring. Congratulations to Inter, thanks for Shakhtar, and thanks for reading this report. Sleep tight!

The referee shows the Ukrainian champions some mercy, although he blew the whole whistle at 89 minutes and 58 seconds. It took a while for Inter to really get to grips with it, but when they did, they were a class above. Shakhtar did not really come up. Inter will face Sevilla in the final on Friday night, looking for their fourth victory in the Uefa Cup / Europa League, and their first silverware for nine seasons.

90 min: Inter are not in the mood to deliver it. Eriksen takes. Gagliardini plants a powerful header goalwards. But it is parried by Pyatov and the flute goes for printing anyway.

89 min: Moses and Esposito combine well from the right to win a corner. Shakhtar plead for mercy.

87 min: Esposito’s first contribution should lead to the celebration of a goal, sent clearly to the right. He expands too far and drags his shot wide to the right, only to defeat Pyatov. The flag goes up for offside, although I’m not 100 percent sure he was, but this way the young man’s blushes were spared, so maybe it’s for the best.

85 min: An extreme content makes Lukaku a place for Esposito. Manchester United can reflect that every cloud has a silver lining, and that at least they do not have to stand up to their former striker in this form.

This is now officially a route. Lukaku beat himself in the foot race with Khocholava in the first half, but did not get away. He does this time, turns the jets to blow the canal from inside-right, struts into the box and locks away with the confidence of a man who has scored 33 times this season.

82 min: That chance at close range for Moraes now seems so long ago. Shakhtar should have been equal, but Inter have since severely punished themselves. The small margins, hey.

80 min: A double change for Inter. Christen Eriksen and Victor Moses appear for the goalscoring heroes D’Ambrosio and Martinez. What a game Martinez has had! A good idea to keep him safe for the final.

This is now too easy for Inter. Matviyenko’s terrifying square pass from the right is picked up by Martinez, who wisely descends from the channel from the right to release Lukaku. The striker makes it ten Europa League games in a row in which he scores by opening his body and curling positively to the bottom left.

77 min: Dodo slips over into the silent film style. Bastoni, added injury to insult, accidentally stepped on his hat. Ooyah, oof. All still friends, though.

75 min: Konoplyanka arrives, too late, for Marlos. He gives his outgoing teammate a sad wink, knowing full well that the jig is up.

Do not mind! His tie partner has made it three, and Inter are now confident in the final. Stepanenko miscontrols in the middle of the park. Suddenly he swings through Inter, and Martinez is sent flying in the middle. He takes a touch and shrugs his shoulders before crawling nicely into the right bottom!

72 min: Lukaku should have put this beyond any doubt. Martinez is sent from right scampering. He slips the ball to Lukaku, who is able to take a step in the middle and put himself for a shot. His empty shell is directly next to Pyatov. He puts his head in his hands, as does his manager Conte on the touchline. You would expect Lukaku to bury that.

70 min: Free kick for Shakhtar on the right. Marlos swings it long. But there are only three strikers in the Inter box, and the Italians calmly calm the ball out for a goal.

68 min: Gagliardini rumbles in the progressive way in the middle. He is about to feed Biraghi to the left, with Shakhtar light at the back, but overrides it and gives a free kick as he slides inside to keep the movement going. Not this time, but Inter are the full bosses of Shakhtar all of a sudden.

66 min: Inter consolidate their position with their first change of the night. Biraghi replaces Young.

What a sucker punch for Shakhtar! Inter win a corner to the right. Brozovic swings it deep. D’Ambrosio springs up with real desire and plants a header over Pyatov and to the top right! Easy as that, the goal comes one minute and 55 seconds after Moraes’ brilliant miss!

62 min: What an opportunity for Shakhtar! Matviyenjo shoots from the left side. Moraes, six yards out, must score. But his header down is straight to Handanovic, who can extend an arm to block. Brilliant save on point-low range, though one he may never have made to make. Compare and contrast with Martinez’s clever finish for the goal.

61 min: Young wedge a pass left for Martinez, who attempts a ballet spin around Kryvtsov. But the Shakhtar defender remains big.

59 min: And now it’s the first change of the evening, as Manor Solomon comes up for Alan Patrick.

57 min: Bastoni launches another attack, but is involuntarily blown away by Taison, who receives the first yellow card of the evening.

55 min: Inter are looking pretty comfortable at the moment. Bastoni stepped confidently from behind and sprayed a glorious pass wide to the right in front of D’Ambrosio, who flew to Barella inside. A busy approach to the Shakhtar box ultimately leads to nothing, but that was a nice move.

53 min: Moraes wins an arm in Godin’s face. There’s not much in it, a clumsy collision and foul, nothing more. Godin wants more, though. The ref was not interested in flashing card. We play on.

51 min: Marcos Antonio has another count from afar. This is not so close. Inter go up the other end, Lukaku uses Khocholava as a shield before bending one to the right below. It always goes wide, and the keeper had meant it in any case.

49 min: Pyatov makes up for his previous mistake with a superb save. Martinez hits Khocholava to a ball that bounces ball, 30 yards out, and attempts a direct loop over the keeper, who had been on walkabout. Pyatov comes back and hits the ball wide right, saving a certain second for Inter. The resulting angle comes to nothing.

47 min: Bastoni exudes in the unpretentious style. His bloot hits his teammate Gagliardini on the forearm. Shakhtar want a fresh penalty but Gagliardini did not see and tried to make himself smaller. They do not get one.

46 min: Barella snaffles possession in the center circle, and a better ball forward would have released Lukaku to the channel from inside-right. Too much juice on the pass, and it will pass to Pyatov.

Shakhtar gets the second half underway. According to BT Sport, they had 67 percent ball possession in that first period, but were not allowed to score a single shot. Presumably, her manager Luis Castro has informed her about this and that, and the pace will be increased as a result. But we’ll see.

Half-time entertainment. One of the great Serie A games of days away. Travel for all Inter fans for driving demons, although I’m going to work that there’s enough time left now.

Shakhtar dominated the possession, but did nothing about it. Inter have very little … achieve the creation of a fine goal that was the result of a poor clearance. Both sides will feel they can do better; one will, however, be happy in spite of everything. Inter are 45 minutes away from a definitive showdown with Sevilla and the chance of a first trophy in nine years.

45 min: So suddenly we can say that Shakhtar has halved strongly. They will be irritated to hear the whistle, which will come within 60 seconds time.