Inter Milan, last season’s Champions League runners-up, got off to a strong start in this year’s campaign with a 2-0 win over Ajax. Marcus Thuram scored both goals as Inter extended their unbeaten record against Dutch teams in UEFA competitions to 14 games.
Ajax were hoping to make a positive start at home but faced a tough task. They had not won any of their last 13 home European games against Italian sides. Thuram had an early chance to put Inter ahead but missed from close range.
Ajax improved as the first half went on, with Mika Godts testing Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer. But it was the visitors who broke the deadlock just before half-time when Thuram headed in from a Hakan Çalhanoğlu corner.
Inter started the second half strongly, and just two minutes after the restart, Thuram scored again with another header from a Çalhanoğlu corner.
Inter almost made it 3-0 when Federico Dimarco’s shot was saved by Ajax keeper Vítězslav Jaroš. At the other end, Sommer kept out a Kasper Dolberg header to preserve Inter’s clean sheet.
Ajax tried to find a goal late on, but missed chances from Edvardsen and Dolberg meant they couldn’t get back into the match. Inter held on comfortably to take all three points and keep their ninth clean sheet in their last ten Champions League group games.
