AC MILAN WIN THE DERBY
Serie A
AC Milan won an exciting derby 3-2, demonstrating all of their best qualities, even their most humble side. It was a topsy-turvy game, full of incident, that saw the home side first play catch-up, then dominate, before finally having to suffer holding on at the end. Under the Milan skies, Olivier Giroud - hugely influential once again - and Rafael Leão both stood out with Rafa, who scored his first-ever goal over cross-city rivals, grabbing a brace. It was a huge test of character after having come from behind, with Brozović putting Inter ahead, and then having to hold onto the lead at the end. It was also a real show of quality after an exhuberating middle part of the game allowed the Rossoneri to pave the way for victory.
After Dzeko got it back to 3-2, the Nerazzurri onslaught at the end had the 75,000-strong crowd nervous on the edge of their seats. But the home side contained Inter with character and a helping hand from Mike Maignan's vital saves. The Rossoneri have won the first derby of the season, the second consecutive one after the 2-1 win last February, and jump to the top of the table with eleven points. But there is no time to rest on their laurels as the team are back in action on Tuesday with the trip to Salzburg for the Champions League opener. With the quality and character on show so far, the Rossoneri will be looking to continue their good start to the season.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v INTER
THE MATCH
It was an action-packed first half that started off evenly but nervous from both sides, as seen by Hernández and Dumfries both picking up yellows after a scuffle on nine minutes. Both sides first moments of danger came around the quarter-hour mark from Inter's Brozović and AC Milan's Leão. But it was the away side who opened the scoring through the Croat, who found space in-between the AC Milan defence to go clean through on goal and slide home past Maignan, after Correa's well weighted pass. It wasn't long before parity was restored though with the home side finding the equaliser after 28 minutes, in probably the visitors best period of the game. Çalhanoğlu lost possession to Tonali, who advanced to the edge of the box and laid it off to Leão, who then unleashed a powerful left-foot strike across Handanović to make it 1-1. Further chances came to take the lead for the Rossoneri with Giroud firing over after another Tonali assist. It was Sandro again in the thick of the action shooting straight at the keeper, and moments later a left-foot thunderbolt from Theo missed by a whisker. Finally, CDK also got in on the act and from a corner, on 37 minutes, got in front of Bastoni but his shot went just over by a few centimetres.
After the break, Theo went close before AC Milan made it 2-1 on 54 minutes with Giroud swivelling and striking home a shot into the far corner, after an assist from Rafa on the right. Rafa, the star of the night, made it 3-1 after 61 minutes with an outstanding individual bit of play, shimmying past two defenders before placing his right-footed shot past Handanović once again. Inter didn't lie down though and immediately reduced the deficit through Džeko, after a cross was slightly deflected off Darmian. Moments later, Martínez missed a golden opportunity to equalise but Maignan stood up to the task and made a superb save. Mike was there once again soon after saving from Džeko and then Çalhanoğlu. Origi could have finished the game off but his long-range shot was too high and Leão on 88 minutes looked set for his hat-trick but his attempt flew off target. A tense, final few minutes played out but the result was to stay the same and the bragging rights went to the home crowd.
MATCH DETAILS
AC MILAN 3-2 INTER
AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria (83' Kjær), Kalulu, Tomori, Hernández; Tonali (83' Pobega), Bennacer; Messias (73' Saelemaekers), De Ketelaere (63' Díaz), Leão; Giroud (73' Origi). Subs.: Mirante, Tătăruşanu; Ballo-Touré, Dest, Gabbia, Thiaw; Adli, Bakayoko, Vranckx. Coach: Pioli.
INTER (3-5-2): Handanović; Skriniar, de Vrij (83' D'Ambrosio), Bastoni (63' Dimarco); Dumfries, Barella (63' Mkhitaryan), Brozović, Çalhanoğlu, Darmian (83' Gosens); Martínez, Correa (63' Džeko). Subs.: Cordaz, Onana; Acerbi, Bellanova; Asllani, Gagliardini; Carboni. Coach: Inzaghi.
Referee: Chiffi from Padova.
Goals: 21' Brozović (I), 28' Leão (M), 54' Giroud (M), 60' Leão (M), 67' Džeko (I)
Booked: 9' Hernández (M), 9' Dumfries (I),31' Giroud (M), 38' Brozović (I), 51' De Ketelaere (M), 77' Tonali (M), 93' Leão (M).
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