Mauro Icardi waited for the ball to arrive from the left and the San Siro held its collective breath.
Icardi had barely been given a kick, let alone a sniff of goal by Tottenham and his team were trailing with the clock ticking past 86 minutes.
Here he stood, a couple of yards outside the penalty area, judging the flight of the cross from Kwadwo Asamoah.
Mauro Icardi scored a superb volley which sparked a late turnaround for Inter Milan against Tottenham on Tuesday evening
Icardi’s spectacular strike drew Inter level at 1-1 on 86 minutes when Tottenham were looking the more likely side to score
Tottenham had led 1-0 in the San Siro after Christian Eriksen scored the game’s opening goal after 54 minutes of play
No 23 Eriksen found the hosts’ net with a shot which took a significant deflection before looping over the Inter goalkeeper
But Spurs ended the night pointless and having lost for a third straight game following a stoppage-time Matias Vecino header
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE
INTER 4-2-3-1: Handanovic 6; Skriniar 6, De Vrij 6, Miranda 6, Asamoah 6.5; Vecino 7, Brozovic 6; Politano 6 (Balde 72, 6), Nainggolan 6 (Valero 89), Perisic 5 (Candreva 64, 6); Icardi 7.5.
SUBS: Padelli, Berni, Ranocchia, D’Ambrosio.
GOALS: Icardi 86, Vecino 90+2.
BOOKINGS: Skriniar, Brozovic.
MANAGER: Luciano Spalletti 6.5.
SPURS 4-2-3-1: Vorm 6; Aurier 5.5, Sanchez 6, Vertonghen 6, Davies 6; Dier 6, Dembele 6; Eriksen 7, Lamela 5 (Winks 72, 5), Son 5 (Moura 64, 6), Kane 5 (Rose 89).
SUBS: Gazzaniga, Wanyama, Walker-Peters, Llorente.
GOAL: Eriksen 53.
BOOKINGS: Sanchez, Vertonghen, Vorm
MANAGER: Mauricio Pochettino 6
REF: Clement Turpin 6.5
Spurs took the lead when No 23 Christian Eriksen found the net at the second attempt after Samir Handanovic had saved his first shot
For more stats and maps check out Sportsmail’s brilliant Match Zone by clicking here.
He shifted his balance, adjusted his feet and met it with the sweetest of volleys which screeched low past Michel Vorm and nestled into the corner of the Tottenham net.
This grand old venue erupted once again.
Inter have suffered during a six-year absence from this competition and they were whipped up into a frenzy for this one, jammed in long before kick-off, they even sang along to UEFA’s Champions League anthem.
As the teams came out, their fans unfurled a banner which declared: ‘We Are Back’ and they set off at a breathless tempo but Spurs thought they had put of the fire.
Pochettino’s team weathered the storm of a difficult first half hour and then stole into the lead through a deflected strike from Christian Eriksen, early in the second half.
The San Siro fell quiet and for the first time the travelling fans could be heard singing their manager’s name in the top tier.
Icardi’s magnificent volley brought them back to life and suddenly Tottenham were scrambling to save a point.
They wobbled under the pressure and then conceded again from a corner, which is becoming rather a bad habit.
Matias Vecino pounced to head it past Vorm in the second minute of stoppage time.
Pochettino was stunned, and gave a little shake of his head and ran his hands through his hair.
Harry Kane (front row, second from right) captained Tottenham and held a pennant as his team posed for a pre-match photo
Hosts Inter lined up for a team photo ahead of their first match back in the Champions League since the 2011-2012 season
Davinson Sanchez returned to the Spurs starting XI after missing Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Liverpool in the Premier League
Korean star Heung-min Son, pictured (left) turning away from Marcelo Brozovic, made his first start for Tottenham this season
Mousa Dembele, seen (right) challenging Radja Nainggolan, provided a powerful midfield presence for the visiting team
For the first time as Spurs boss he had lost three games in a row and all the positivity from earlier in this tie had washed away in the capitulation of the closing minutes.
His team have surrendered the initiative to Inter in a group where everyone expects Barcelona, 4-0 winners against PSV Eindhoven, to occupy one of the top two places.
Spurs have Barca next, at Wembley and they have work still to do if they are to present the Champions League at their brand new stadium at White Hart Lane this season. Or even next.
Inter will take heart and encouragement from this victory and Icardi’s goal on his long-awaited Champions League debut.
In Milan, the media billed this as Icardi v Harry Kane.
By the final whistle, there was no question about who won the duel.
Kane could not snap out of his subdued form. In fact, it took Spurs time to get any hold on the game.
Inter’s industrious midfield five hustled Spurs into mistakes on the ball during an opening phase played at a hectic tempo before they took control before half-time.
The man in charge was France’s Clement Turpin who has been a FIFA listed ref since 2010, and a UEFA elite ref since 2012
Danish playmaker Eriksen (No 23) provided the game with its first shot on target from a long-range free-kick on 13 minutes
Kane had the best chance of the first half but ran the ball out of play after dribbling around Inter keeper Samir Handanovic
Tottenham went 1-0 ahead nine minutes into the second half when Handanovic was unable to keep out a looping Eriksen shot
For all their energy and the sense of urgency, the Italians had failed to create a clear opening in the first half.
Davinson Sanchez, having suffered a difficult opening half hour, got on the end of an Eriksen set-piece, climbing high at the back post but was unable to connect cleanly with his header.
It was a good chance wasted but, slowly, Spurs were easing back into the contest and Inter grew frustrated.
Eriksen, meanwhile, created another good opportunity, this time with a chip to Kane who drifted away from Stefan de Vrij and evaded the ‘keeper but lost the angle to shoot on goal and Inter were able to recover.
Spurs got their rewards eight minutes into the second half.
Eriksen’s initial effort was saved by Samir Handanovic and bounced back towards him on the edge of the box, where he fought the ball down and took aim again.
This time, the Dane’s strike clipped Miranda, swerved over the ‘keeper and into the net.
Michel Vorm denied Ivan Perisic and Tottenham squandered good chances on the counter-attack with Erik Lamela more guilty than most.
The came Icardi’s goal. And then the ferocious ending from Inter and Vecino’s winner. They celebrated hard, and were still singing into the night as they left the San Siro.
Spurs head for Brighton. Still in a rut.
Eriksen’s effort took a big deflection off Inter central defender Miranda (No 23) which made it hard for Handanovic to keep out
Once the ball had landed in the back of the net, Eriksen celebrated by raising his right hand as Inter players looked dejected
A smiling Son reacted to Eriksen’s goal by punching the air with two clenched fists while looking up towards the Spurs fans
Those smiles were wiped away after Icardi struck out of nowhere to draw Inter level with eight minutes of normal time left
And Tottenham’s players were left even further dejected after conceding another goal in stoppage time at the San Siro