Milan's win over Inter in the Derby Della Madonnina as it happened
AC Milan were more or less forced to at least get a draw against Inter to keep the Scudetto race alive. They didn’t exactly disappoint, claiming a 2-1 win in spite of what was a rather average display. In this edition, we take a look at the Derby Della Madonnina as it unfolded.
A few days have passed since Saturday and it’s thus the perfect time to reflect on what was an incredibly important win for Stefano Pioli and his men. Instead of seven points behind, the Rossoneri are now just one point behind their city rivals and the Scudetto is thus far from decided yet.
Pre-match situation
The preparation was far from ideal for Milan as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ante Rebic never made it back in time to train with the group before the clash. And Fikayo Tomori, who did make it back, obviously wasn’t thrown into action straight away after such an injury.
With Ibrahimovic and Rebic available, the talk would’ve been much different before the game as their absence made it very clear (if it wasn’t already) that Inter were the favourites to win the game. As we know, though, there is never any favourite in the Derby Della Madonnina and that thesis was once again proved right.
A lot of responsibility was put on the shoulder of Olivier Giroud, therefore, and he certainly rose to the occasions. We will get to this more below but he was truly a No.9 for Milan on Saturday evening.
The game itself
As alluded to earlier, the performance was far from great for Milan as they got pinned back by their opponents a lot in the first half. Just when it felt they were building the foundation of something good, a mistake was committed and Inter were once again back on the front foot.
Yet, one thought that crossed my mind (shamelessly I must add) was that it could have been a lot worse. It didn’t look great, we can all agree on that, but the intention was there and the Nerazzurri didn’t look super dangerous either despite their initial advantage (although Mike Maignan made a few really sweaty saves).
The goal scored by Ivan Perisic was just the result of another individual mistake from Milan, making for a necessary wake-up call ahead of the second half. Because in the final 45 minutes, Milan looked like a different team and the most important change was made by Pioli in the 58th minute, bringing on Brahim Diaz for Franck Kessie.
The ‘Kessie experiment’ worked in the sense that the midfielder managed to almost completely shut down Marcelo Brozovic. It ended up costing Milan too much, though, as Kessie was never going to add as much flair to the attack as Diaz. Therefore, the substitution was very important.
With their general improvement in the second half came a few chances, but they only managed three shots on target during the entire game. One was a long-distance effort from Sandro Tonali and the other two, well, we all know who was responsible for them. Indeed, Giroud stepped up when it mattered and made the most of two chances.
The first goal was a typical poacher’s finish, being at the right place at the right time, but the second one was a classic Giroud move. It’s exactly why Milan signed him in the summer and we can only hope that he will continue like this, currently at eight goals for the season.
After that, it must be said, it never really felt like the sometimes dominant Inter we saw in the first half. Milan managed the situation well in defence and perhaps that had to do with the fact that Simone Inzaghi took off both Perisic and Lautaro Martinez before the Rossoneri’s turnaround. So thank you, Simone.
Things did get heated towards the end as Theo Hernandez was sent off after a cynical foul, which the Inter players and fans didn’t exactly appreciate. But let’s not focus on the bad, although some of the reactions we saw from the Nerazzurri players shouldn’t go unpunished.
Celebrations
Milan obviously and rightfully celebrated the win with great enthusiasm. Once again, they showed that they are strong even when things aren’t going their way. Pioli was very proud after the game and said the following about his side: “I have a team that never gives up, guys who want to go beyond their limits. Going down in such an important match, reacting like this and winning against such a strong opponent makes me very proud”.
When the Rossoneri scored their second goal, the entire bench (including Pioli) ran down to celebrate under the Curva Sud and it was beautiful to see. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the celebrations that will make you smile, including some moments during the game that are worth watching again. (*It might take a few seconds for the gifs to load).
Stefano and the team celebrate the second goal
Alessio and Theo save the day for a pitch invader
Tonali stands up for his teammate
The scenes at full-time
Gian’s prediction
If you have watched the SempreMilan Podcast before, you will know that the lads always try to predict the score of the upcoming games. Ahead of the derby, Gian was the one to get it right as he opted to stick with his initial thought 2-1. Alexis Saelemaekers didn’t get a brace, as he joked about, but he still deserves praise for getting the score right.
A final word
There’s no doubt about the fact that this was a huge win for Milan in their Scudetto pursuit, avoiding a potential 10-point gap up to Inter. It should also be noted that the Rossoneri now have head-to-head advantage over their city rivals (four points against one), and that’s important because Serie A goes by that before goal difference.
If you want to read a more in-depth analysis of what we can take with us from the game, make sure to read the ‘Five things we learned’ segment on our website. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to this newsletter (if you haven’t already) to get your weekly dose of Milan content. For now, though, Forza Milan!