AC Milan made it a league derby double over Inter, as they beat their city rivals 1-0 at San Siro on Sunday night.
The only goal of the game came in the first half and Pervis Estupinan was the perhaps unlikely hero, as he latched onto an excellent pass from Youssouf Fofana and sent a shot into the top corner to make the stadium explode.
A resilient defensive effort followed from the Rossoneri, who withstood wave after wave of Inter crosses, though Mike Maignan was in truth rarely tested. It means the gap at the top is cut to seven points, and Milan have also ended the Nerazzurri’s unbeaten run at 15 games, since the last derby.
Massimiliano Allegri made one change to the starting line-up from the win over Cremonese one week ago. Pervis Estupinan came in at left wing-back with Davide Bartesaghi on the bench, given he was not at 100% having limped off in the last game.
First half: seizing the moment
Milan were almost gifted a very early goal in the third minute, when Sommer made a mistake playing out from the back. Christian Pulisic seized possession and laid it back to Luka Modric on the edge of the box, who whipped a shot just wide of the far post.
The rest of the opening quarter of an hour was perhaps predictably cagey, perhaps best symbolised by the mid-air flick that Youssouf Fofana tried having been found by a ball over the top that did not come off. There was a moment of panic when Fikayo Tomori went down hurt, but he thankfully was able to carry on.
With 12 minutes to go until the break, Inter really should have taken the lead as they broke three-on-two with Mkhitaryan in possession. Milan’s centre-backs parted like the red sea and allowed the Armenia to stroll into the box, yet his shot was straight at Mike Maignan rather than either side of him for what would have surely been a certain goal.
Then, at the other end, Milan made their opponents pay as they took the lead through Pervis Estupinan. The left wing-back went on a surging run into the box that was found by an excellent pass from Fofana who in turn had been fed by Rafael Leao, and the Ecuadorian sent the shot into the top corner at the near post with a fierce shot.
The game seemed to erupt into life after the opening goal, and it could have been 2-0 to Milan when Christian Pulisic darted down the left side and cut back to Alexis Saelemaekers. The Belgian got on the end of it but – under some pressure from Dimarco – rather bundled his effort off target from near the penalty spot.
Fofana was getting more and more involved too, and he perhaps will have wanted to do better in the first of two added minutes when he broke into the box down the right side but had his pass cut out. He got the ball back after a botched clearance, then curled a shot well wide of the top corner.
Second half:
Maignan was called into action early in the second half as Zielinski made a run to the byline and pinged a cross from a narrow angle that the Frenchman did well to react to and parry safely behind.
Milan’s approach seemed to be to contain and counter, and they nearly executed it perfectly with 49 minutes on the clock. Pulisic did brilliantly to escape two markers with a jinking run and released Leao on the left side of the penalty area, yet the shot was dragged beyond the far post and not enough to get the onrushing Rabiot involved.
One minute later, the Rossoneri were on the charge again with Fofana who strolled through the middle of the field and a pocket of space opened up for a shot from the edge of the area that Sommer gathered at the second attempt.
Inter had a big opportunity to get themselves level on the night and it feel to their in-form man Dimarco, who had just taken a painful knock. A cross from Barella on the right dropped to Mkhitaryan at the far stick, though his set-up was sent over the bar by the wing-back from a great position.
The wide open nature of the game continued, with Leao bursting onto a through ball and getting it on his right foot down the same side of the box, but lashing his off-balance attempt way wide of the near post.
The first changes were made by Allegri in the 73rd minute, as Leao and Fofana made way for Niclas Füllkrug and Samuele Ricci, in what was a like-for-like double change. Then, 10 minutes after that, Pulisic came off for Christopher Nkunku.
Inter had a barrage of late corners and even had the ball in the back of the net in added time, but the referee had blown because he was unhappy with some wrestling inside the box. The next time he blew in a meaningful way was for full-time, much to the delight of the home crowd.
The irony, some of us called for him to be disposed of and yet, he may have come up with a goal that keeps our title dreams alive. Estupinan came up huge! Forza Milan.
I have no doubt he will be a good player for us if we give him the time, the big question is the injury problems
that is what makes me nervous too, the injuries can always creep back
Sometimes the long shot pays off the most in the end… Forza Corto Muso though.
What a game. Milan are built to win finals (if only they can get there). Everyone showed maximum grinta. Inter’s schedule is difficult next 4 matches. Only thing that stinks is that we don’t get to play them again 🙂 Forza Milan!
Milan has proven that wins against the top teams is not a fluke, not luck and not because of one superstar player. Everyone is contributing. When Jashari and Ricci get to their best, Milan will be an even stronger squad.
Rode our luck somewhat and we can be thankful di Marco struggled and their excellent front two were both missing but excellent performance and actually felt reasonably safe for most of the second half.
Struggled to keep possession throughout but especially towards the end but some really hard work from all three midfielders, both forwards (not usual to see a forward cover 1-2km more than anyone else on the pitch, but Pulisic did) and Saelemaekers in particular. Both Pavlovic and De Winter did stellar jobs managing their men at the back and Tomori and Pavlovic both made their usual useful contributions moving the ball up the pitch.
I don’t genuinely believe there’s a title fight there, especially with Inter out of Europe, but I’m very happy that we are closer to the top than 5th, I didn’t expect that at the week’s beginning.
Good for Estupinan. Showed great composure in the final third. He’s very left-footed which makes him limited in the build-up but maurading forward like Theo showed a new side of him.
Nice assist from Fofana. Sadly, shooting-wise, he was his usual rushed self – he needs to take an extra microsecond to set himself. He’s already kicked 8-10 NFL field goals via consistently skying the ball over the keeper. He’s had but 3-4 shots on frame the whole year.
Modric was everywhere – esp on defense, where he disrupted multiple long Inter passes from his deep-lying position.
the back 3 was SOLID – my goodness, de Winter has grown in the past 6+ games. Who would have thought the back 3 would be so strong (other than set pieces)?
Pulisic had a solid game – deserving more than a 6 rating. he spring both Leao and Salemaekers for attacking runs. I think he’s rounding back into form.