Internazionale escaped the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday with a surprise 0-0 draw against Premier League giants Manchester City in the Champions League, taking a small measure of revenge for a narrow defeat to City in the 2023 final of Europe’s premier club competition.

Both teams squandered numerous chances in a breathtaking back-and-forth affair. Pep Guardiola’s City were largely held back by Inter’s impressive defensive discipline, while Simone Inzaghi’s Inter, who were dangerous on the counter-attack on a nerve-wracking evening for both sides, were lacking in finishing.

City’s goalscoring machine Erling Haaland, who would have become the fastest player in history to score 100 goals for a European club had he scored, had a couple of chances in the first half, including a header that deflected off the line from keeper Yann Sommer and a hard, low shot that rolled just wide of the post.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan brought a sigh of relief to the City fans when he missed a chance for heroics in the closing stages of the game, firing a rocket just over the bar from eight yards out and then holding his head in disbelief.

At the other end, Ilkay Gundogan elicited loud groans from the City fans with his two close-range headers in the dying seconds, the second just over the bar just before the final whistle.