Stevan Jovetic made an instant impact on his Inter debut as he spared Roberto Mancini's blushes with a stunning 94th-minute winner to secure a 1-0 victory over 10-man Atalanta.
The Montenegro star arrived from Manchester City for €12million during the pre-season and, although he did not start at San Siro, the former Fiorentina forward marked his return to Serie A in style, clipping in a delightful finish to rescue a wasteful Inter at the death.
Despite their dominance, Inter had great difficulty turning their surperiority into chances during the first half, with Alejandro Gomez's early chance no doubt worrying Mancini.
An innocuous-looking injury to Mauro Icardi gave the Inter coach even more cause for concern, but his 15th-minute replacement Jovetic ultimately ended up saving the day.
Geoffrey Kondogbia, one of the new signings to start, was one of few Inter players to really catch the eye, before Carlos Carmona's dismissal for two yellow cards gave the hosts extra motivation.
Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello appeared to have kept Inter at bay and Rodrigo Palacio struck the post late on, but Jovetic popped up in stoppage time to give Mancini a winning – if slightly unimpressive – start to the season.
The first casualty of Mancini's big-spending close-season was club captain Andrea Ranocchia who had to be content with a place on the bench, as new recruits Jeison Murillo and Miranda occupied the two centre-back berths.
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