DEFEAT IN THE DERBY
Serie A
The 235th derby in history ended with a defeat for AC Milan. Inter won 1-0 thanks to Lautaro Martínez's first-half goal. The game at San Siro was marked by a difficult first half for the Rossoneri, who struggled to get going. They looked better after the break and even came close to equalising - most notably through Brahim Díaz - but couldn't turn it around.
AC Milan set up much with a back three for most of the match and grew into the game after the substitutions. That's where we need to rebuild from as we look to get out of this rough patch in a long season, in which there are still important aims to be reached. Now, we shift focus to two consecutive home matches: first up it's Torino on Friday before we welcome Tottenham in the Champions League on Tuesday 14th. Forza ragazzi.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM INTER v AC MILAN
MATCH REPORT
The game’s first chance came with only five minutes gone, as Tătăruşanu reacted well to Martínez’s effort. Five minutes later, it was the Argentinian again, but his header went just wide of the post. Tătăruşanu was in the thick of the action early on, and once again was alert to punch away a dangerous corner in from Dimarco that was heading directly into the net. AC Milan kept their shape defensively and looked for opportunities on the counter-attack through Messias, and Giroud and Origi up top, but the match continued to be played at a slow tempo for the opening half hour. 34 minutes in and the home side took the lead through Martínez, who headed home at the near post from a corner. The goal didn’t affect the story of the half, and in the closing stages Tătăruşanu made a repeat of the save earlier in the half, but this time from a Çalhanoğlu corner.
The half-time break saw a change from the Rossoneru, with Díaz coming on for Messias. Shortly after, also Leão and Saelemaekers entered the fray, but the first chance of the half fell to Inter with Tătăruşanu keeping out Martínez. AC Milan found some heart and after 58 minutes a header from Giroud went just over Onana’s crossbar. Theo tried his luck with a 25-yard free-kick on 69 minutes, but again his effort went sailing over. The match became a tight affair, but the Rossoneri were more adventurous going forward compared to the first hour’s play. With 15 minutes to go, Díaz worked Onana with a dangerous low shot, and three minutes later, a Giroud free-kick finished up over the bar. Just before the board was put up for stoppage time, Inter had a goal chalked off by VAR for offside, with Lukaku deemed to have fouled Thiaw, but that was the last of the action and the final whistle blew: it ended 1-0 to Inter.
MATCH DETAILS
INTER 1-0 AC MILAN
INTER (3-5-2): Onana; Škriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella (93' Asllani), Çalhanoğlu (89' Gagliardini), Mkhitaryan (71' Brozović), Dimarco (71' Gosens); Martínez, Džeko (71' Lukaku). Subs: Cordaz, Handanovič; D'Ambrosio, de Vrij, Dumfries; Bellanova; Carboni. Coach: S. Inzaghi.
AC MILAN (3-5-2): Tătăruşanu; Kalulu, Kjær (86' Rebić), Gabbia (70' Thiaw); Calabria (55' Saelemaekers), Messias (46' Díaz), Tonali, Krunić, Hernández; Giroud, Origi (55' Leão). Subs: Mirante, Vásquez; Ballo-Touré; Adli, Bakayoko, Pobega, Vranckx; De Ketelaere. Coach: Pioli.
Referee: Massa
Goal: 34' Martínez (I).
Booked: 32' Kalulu (M), 49' Gabbia (M), 67' Mkhitaryan (I), 68' Acerbi (I), 84' Giroud (M), 88' Rebić (M).
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