Rodri's rocket seals treble joy for Manchester City
Manchester City ended a sensational season by beating Inter Milan 1-0 to win the Champions League for the first time and complete the treble on a Saturday evening of frayed nerves. Spanish midfielder Rodri's 68th-minute goal settled a cagey game which a far-from-fluent City dominated without ever looking comfortable against the three-times winners from Italy at the Ataturk Stadium. Inter almost levelled at the death when a point-blank header by substitute Romelu Lukaku was saved by Ederson. But City, who lost in the final two years ago against Chelsea, would not be denied. "Emotional. A dream come true. All these guys around here waited I don't know how many years. They deserve, we deserve," Rodri said. In being crowned champions of Europe, they matched the treble achieved by Manchester United in 1999 of lifting the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League crowns. City manager Pep Guardiola has now won the Champions League three times and took his trophy count with City to 12. It was far from a fluent City performance, however, against a tireless Inter side who looked capable of causing a shock. City were stifled in the first half and their fans were reduced to near silence at times as the nerves became frayed. With Kevin de Bruyne off injured, City struggled to create chances and were wobbly at the back but in the end the ever-reliable Rodri came to the rescue. For once Inter could not close down the spaces and Bernardo Silva's cutback was swept home by the Spaniard. Even then, City were forced to go to the wire at the end of long season with Lautaro Martinez hitting the bar for Inter and Lukaku denied by a superb Ederson save at the death. (Reuters)