Mkhitaryan: ‘Inter must kill games off earlier, we had plenty of chances’

Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits Inter ‘were unable to convert our chances’ and so Bologna deserve to be in the Supercoppa Italiana Final. ‘We’ve got to work on finishing games off earlier.’

The Nerazzurri had the ideal start in Riyadh when taking the lead in the opening 73 seconds through a Marcus Thuram volley.

However, Riccardo Orsolini equalised from the spot as Yann Bisseck clumsily mistimed his header and handled in the box.

Under the Supercoppa rules, there is no extra time, so at 1-1 they went straight to a penalty shoot-out where Alessandro Bastoni and Ange-Yoan Bonny efforts were saved, and Nicolò Barella blasted over the bar.

“We should’ve killed the game off earlier when we had the scoring opportunities to do so,” insisted Mkhitaryan on Sport Mediaset.

“Once you get to penalties, it’s another matter. We were unable to convert our chances, just like against Atletico Madrid. It’s disappointing, we must work to finish games off earlier, because we always create plenty of opportunities.”

While Federico Ravaglia made some big saves, it is also fair to say that Bastoni and Stefan de Vrij missed free headers on corners when it was 1-1.

Inter are now without any silverware for 18 months, as last season they had been leading the EA Sports FC Supercup Final 2-0 against AC Milan only to lose 3-2.

“This is football, it’s 11 against 11, not 11 against 0,” noted Mkhitaryan.

“Bologna deserved to be here after winning the Coppa Italia last season and we were unable to beat them in 90 minutes. There are no excuses, we’ve just got to get our heads down and keep working.

“This disappointment hurts, but we are also well aware of what we need to do going forward. We’ll work even harder to achieve our objectives.”

Despite losing four Serie A games already this season, Inter are still at the top of the table, having leapfrogged Napoli and AC Milan last week.

The Supercoppa Italiana Final will be between Napoli and Bologna in Riyadh on Monday, kicking off at 19.00 GMT.

Despite the Final Four format, it is therefore going to be an old-school Supercoppa between the Serie A winners and Coppa Italia holders.