Inter Milan battle past Leipzig to go top of Champions League

In a first-ever European meeting between the two sides, it was the home side who came close to an early breakthrough when Federico Dimarco's powerful effort from the edge of the penalty area drifted narrowly wide of the target.

That was a sign of things to come as Inter looked to build on their early momentum, with Lautaro Martínez seeing a low strike thwarted by Péter Gulácsi in the Leipzig goal.

The Nerazzurri continued to dominate the game as the first half progressed and their pressure was rewarded in the 27th minute. A beautiful inswinging throw from Dimarco caused confusion in the Leipzig penalty area and Lukeba could only deflect the ball into his own net.

Having lost all four previous games in the league stage, the visitors desperately tried to gain a foothold in the match before half-time, with their defense standing firm to limit the deficit to just one goal.

In the same spirit as the first half, Inter flew out of the blocks at the start of the second half as Denzel Dumfries flew over from close range and Hakan Çalhanoğlu saw a tame effort comfortably saved by Gulácsi.

Despite all the pressure from the hosts, however, the match remained tantalizingly poised heading into the final half hour, with Leipzig threatening an equalizer against the run of play when Antonio Nusa's curling goal was expertly parried by Yann Sommer.

That near miss gave Marco Rose's men plenty of encouragement later on, but despite their best efforts and a few half-chances, Inter held on to take the hard-earned three points.

The result extends the home side's unbeaten start into the league stage (W4, D1) as they move to the top of the standings, while Leipzig's miserable wait for a first point continues.

View a summary of the match here