England international John Stones marked his Inter debut with the winning goal as his new side beat Real Betis 1-0 in their final pre-season fixture at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari.
The former Manchester City defender came off the bench in the second half and needed only 12 minutes to make the decisive contribution. Federico Dimarco’s free-kick was headed down by Benjamin Pavard, allowing Stones to strike a half-volley into the net from nine yards.
It was an ideal start to Stones’ Inter career as Cristian Chivu’s team completed their preparations to defend their Serie A and Coppa Italia titles.
The match also saw Lautaro Martinez return to action for the first time since helping Argentina reach the World Cup final. The Inter captain began on the bench before coming on in the 70th minute, at the same time as Stones made his first appearance for the club.
Djed Spence, who was announced by Inter earlier on the day of the match, was not included in the squad.
Real Betis were forced to make an early change when Hector Bellerin suffered an injury, but the Spanish side created the first major opportunity. Antony cut inside and produced a powerful effort that curled narrowly wide of the far post.
Inter’s Andy Diouf again impressed on the right flank, while Hakan Calhanoglu came close with a long-range attempt that skimmed the frame of the goal.
The home side struggled at times to find an understanding between Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny. On two occasions, the pair went for the same ball and ended up obstructing one another.
Manu Gonzalez also had to save from Bonny before the introduction of Stones and Martinez altered the contest.
Inter nearly added a second goal late on. Dimarco’s shot was parried into the path of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but the Armenian midfielder sent the rebound narrowly wide.
Stones’ goal came in the 82nd minute.
Inter: J. Martinez (Provedel 60); Bisseck (Stones 70), Bovio (Akanji 46), Bastoni (Pavard 60); Diouf (Luis Henrique 60), Barella (Mkhitaryan 60), Calhanoglu (Sucic 46), Zielinski (Stankovic 70), Carlos Augusto (Dimarco 46); Esposito (Idrissou 85), Bonny (Lautaro Martinez 70).
Real Betis: Valles (Manu Gonzalez 46); Bellerin (Ortiz 10), Bartra, Natan, Fran Garcia (Junior Firpo 70); Bernal (Bouabre 60), Roca (Fidalgo 70); Antony (Pablo Garcia 60), Fornals (Isco 46), Riquelme (Iker 70), Cucho (Deossa 60).
