Dumfries goals decide the Supercoppa semi-final in Saudi Arabia
Denzel Dumfries scored twice in 13 second-half minutes as Inter Milan ended Atalanta’s 16-match unbeaten streak against Italian opponents and reached the 2024 Supercoppa Italiana final at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh.
After Dumfries’ acrobatic volley from close range opened the scoring in the 49th minute at the home of Al-Nassr, six-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, the winger added a spectacular second goal by scoring a first Hit on the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
What a sweet blow that is! 💥
Denzel Dumfries scores a double for Inter! 🔵⚫ pic.twitter.com/yq4sdeR1S2
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) January 2, 2025
Atalanta thought they had equalized with Ederson’s finish 18 minutes from time, but a lengthy video referee disallowed the goal for an apparent offside call against Charles De Ketelaere.
Inter will face Juventus or Milan in the final at the Kingdom Arena in the Saudi capital on Monday, who will meet in the second semi-final at the same stadium on Friday (7pm GMT).
Denzel Dumfries delivers with a close-range acrobatic performance! 🙌
Inter takes the lead in the Supercoppa semi-final against Atalanta 🔵⚫ pic.twitter.com/lv3EgirJtY
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) January 2, 2025
Inter vs Atalanta
A remarkable run of 12 straight wins had taken Atalanta to the top of Serie A and into the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia before they secured a late draw at Lazio in the league on Saturday. and manager Gian Piero Gasperini may have had reason to fear their streak had ended at the wrong time
La Dea had not beaten Inter for more than six years and had lost the last six meetings between the teams. So it was perhaps unsurprising that the reigning Italian champions had the better chances in the first half.
✈️🇳🇱🖤💙#ForzaInter #InterAtalanta pic.twitter.com/1b8OyOrG9p
— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter) January 2, 2025
Goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi saved them with two great early saves from Lautaro Martinez, one of which would have led to a Federico Dimarco goal from a rebound had Carnesecchi not made another stop.
Inter’s first goal came after a corner was questionably deemed to have been deflected backwards, and there was less doubt about the second goal when Dumfries fired in a stunning shot at the end of a counter-attack.
A special goal for Yann 🤩🧤#ForzaInter #InterAtalanta pic.twitter.com/bK5NktxrA1
— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter_en) January 2, 2025
Carnesecchi again thwarted Martinez one-on-one and the score was 2-0, although Atalanta almost responded with a minute left when Yann Sommer parried headers from Berat Djimsiti and Ademola Lookman in quick succession.
Both players appeared poised to score from the second rebound, but conspired to send the ball over the crossbar, almost ending Atalanta’s slim hopes of a stoppage-time comeback.
MVP 🏅🖤💙#ForzaInter #InterAtalanta pic.twitter.com/nfpt29GRil
— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter_en) January 2, 2025
Supercup final
Eight-time champions Inter have won the last three editions of the Supercoppa and will enter the final with five consecutive clean sheets.
They have yet to beat any of their potential opponents in the final this season, losing 2-1 to Milan in September and drawing 4-4 with Juve in October.
