Inter 2-2 Borussia Monchengladbach: Lukaku rescues Nerazzurri

Lukaku opened the scoring four minutes into the second half at San Siro with his 10th goal in his last nine European appearances, but Gladbach had the victory in their grasp after Jonas Hofmann struck late on.

Antonio Conte's side tasted defeat to city rivals Milan in Serie A last time out and looked set to be heading for another loss when Hofmann raced through to slot home following Ramy Bensebaini's equaliser from the spot.

Yet Inter had the final say, with Lukaku on hand to bundle home his second from a corner and snatch a share of the spoils.

9 - Romelu #Lukaku has found the net in each of his last nine European competition games for @Inter, scoring 10 goals. Monster.#UCL #InterBorussia

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 21, 2020

Inter had to wait until the midway point of the first half for a chance, when debutant Matteo Darmian picked out Christian Eriksen, whose effort was blocked by Christoph Kramer.

Lukaku burst into life shortly before the interval, flashing a low shot wide of Yann Sommer's right-hand post, and Inter were rewarded for an improved start to the second half when the Belgian turned home his fifth goal of the campaign after the ball had spun fortuitously his way.

Gladbach pulled level against the run of play shortly after the hour mark, Bensebaini powering home from the spot after Arturo Vidal had brought down Marcus Thuram in the area – a decision given following a review by referee Bjorn Kuipers.

Hofmann's cool finish under Samir Handanovic seemed to have sealed the win for Gladbach in the 84th minute, with a lengthy VAR review deeming that Alassane Plea's touch on the way through was from an onside position.

It was not to be, though, with Lukaku on hand to rescue Inter as he tapped in from a yard out following Alessandro Bastoni's flick-on from a corner.

6 - Romelu #Lukaku has been involved in each of the last six Champions League goals for Inter, thanks to four goals and two assists. Parsley.#UCL #InterBorussia pic.twitter.com/77ipFta7qN

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 21, 2020

Conte said he wanted his side to be "contenders" in this season's Champions League, but if they are to go deep into the competition they will need to keep chaotic performances like this to a minimum. The hosts had a whopping 17 shots to Gladbach's six and should never have found themselves requiring a last-minute goal to salvage a draw.

The Belgium international was a model of efficiency, with his two goals coming from his only two shots on target. Since the start of last season, only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (15) has scored more than Lukaku's 11 goals across the Champions League and Europa League.

Alexis Sanchez struggled in just his second start of the season and was hauled off at the break for Lautaro Martinez. No player completed fewer than the Chilean's 11 passes during the opening 45 minutes, while the former Manchester United man lost possession eight times and won just one of his nine duels.

- Inter have only won their opening group stage game in one of their last six Champions League campaigns (D4 L1). - Away from home, Gladbach have won just one of their previous seven games in the Champions League (D2 L4) – 2-0 v Celtic in the 2016-17 group stage. - Inter got a 90th-minute equaliser in their opening group stage game for the second consecutive campaign, following Nico Barella's effort in a draw with Slavia Prague last season. - Lukaku has now scored in each of his last nine games in European competition for Inter (11 goals), extending the longest-ever such run by a player for the club. - He has netted 11 European goals for Inter and is one of three players to reach double figures since the start of 2019-20, along with Lewandowski (15) and Erling Haaland (11).