Inter Milan 2-1 Ludogorets (4-1 agg): Romelu Lukaku scores as Inter reach last 16

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San Siro empty standsImage source, Getty Images
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Inter's Europa League tie was played in front of empty stands at the San Siro due to the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy

Romelu Lukaku scored as Inter Milan booked their place in the last 16 of the Europa League with a 4-1 aggregate win over Ludogorets.

The last-32 second leg was played behind closed doors at San Siro Stadium because of the threat of coronavirus.

Cauly opened the scoring for the Bulgarian side, before Cristiano Biraghi and Lukaku put Inter 2-1 up.

The draw for the last 16 takes place on Friday at 12:00 GMT.

The Ludogorets players and staff arrived at the stadium wearing medical face masks, as they had done on the way to their hotel on Wednesday, and were 2-0 down from the first leg against Antonio Conte's men.

Brazilian midfielder Cauly put the visitors in front on 26 minutes with his first goal for the club to level the tie, holding off Diego Godin's challenge to score off the underside of the bar.

Six minutes later it was all square as former Tottenham man Christian Eriksen sent a through ball to Biraghi to squeeze in at the near post.

On the stroke of half-time Lukaku gave Inter a 2-1 lead - not that the Belgian knew much about it.

Who is left in the Europa League?

Rangers

Shakhtar Donetsk

Roma

Inter Milan

Wolfsburg

Manchester United

LASK

Olympiakos

Basel

Sevilla

Bayer Leverkusen

FC Copenhagen

Istanbul Basaksehir

Getafe

Wolves

Red Bull Salzburg or Eintracht Frankfurt

Former Manchester United team-mate Alexis Sanchez fed the ball into Lukaku, whose initial header was saved by Ludogorets goalkeeper Plamen Iliev, but the ball rebounded on to the striker's head and found its way into the net.

Authorities have confirmed more than 300 cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths in Italy, with the outbreak focused on a small cluster of towns in the northern Lombardy and Veneto regions.

Inter were one of four Serie A clubs to postpone their game last weekend with more league matches affected this weekend.

Manager Conte said the Italian giants did well despite the lack of fans inside the San Siro.

"It seemed like a training session, playing behind closed doors created a very strange atmosphere," said Conte.

"The lads did well to put things back in place immediately after we suffered the goal."

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