Inter claimed their first points of this Champions League season on Wednesday, but had to fight for them. Alessandro Bastoni's red card left them with ten men at home before Carlos Augusto struck to secure a 1-0 win.
After a bright start, Inter nearly capitalised on a major error in Shakhtar's build-up play, but goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk just managed to turn Marcus Thuram's effort wide.
Inter had a slight edge for the rest of the first half, though clear chances were scarce. Hakan Calhanoglu shot just over and Ange-Yoan Bonny tested Riznyk's reflexes again. At the other end, Valeriy Bondar and Oleg Ocheretko came close to opening the scoring for Shakhtar.
After the break, Inter struggled. Shakhtar held firm with ease as frustration grew in Cristian Chivu's side. Alessandro Bastoni picked up a second yellow card in the 69th minute, leaving Inter with ten men.
Arda Turan and his side had reason to feel confident with an extra man. But a quarter of an hour from time, Carlos Augusto finished a superb counter-attack to put Inter 1-0 ahead.
With a lead to protect, Inter focused on seeing out the win. Newerton and Mykola Matvienko still had big chances, but Inter survived.
Inter now have their first points and travel to Feyenoord at De Kuip in the next round of matches.