AC Milan defeated Inter in an incredible Deby Della Madonnina, as Olivier Giroud scored a late brace for the Rossoneri to keep the team in the title race against all odds.
The match started off in fine tempo, as both teams looked very eager to put up an attacking display at the San Siro in front of a fantastic crowd.
The Nerazzurri were the first team to cause some danger, with Denzel Dumfries scoring a goal in the 11th minute of the match. However, he was correctly flagged offside. Immediately after Maignan made a fine save on Brozovic’s deflected strike.
The home side continued to present itself as the more confident side in the next minutes with Simone Inzaghi’s men playing with great ease, which almost brought the first fruit of the game, as Nicolo Barella’s shot went just wide.
In the 28th minute of the match, Dumfries almost came close to scoring again, but Maignan’s fantastic one-on-one save kept the game open.
But in the 35th minute, out of thin air, Milan had their first big chance of the match, with Handanovic making a fine save on Tonali’s strike from distance.
However, Inter reacted almost instantly. First, Lautaro Martinez tested Maignan from distance and seconds later Ivan Perisic volleyed the ball in the bottom right corner off Hakan Calhanoglu’s well-placed corner kick putting the league leaders ahead.
Stefano Pioli’s side started the second half with slightly more enthusiasm and determination, as Junior Messias replaced an almost non-existent Saelemaekers.
Throughout the match, it became clear that the “Kessie experiment” just wasn’t working, with Milan’s game seeming very sloppy and error-prone. For this reason, Pioli replaced the Ivorian with Brahim Diaz in the 57th minute to quicken things up in the final third of the pitch for the Rossoneri.
And in the 75th minute, Milan’s more proactive approach brought its fruit, as Tonali made a fantastic run, passed to Brahim Diaz who went for goal, but his shot was deflected to an unmarked Giroud at the far post who equalized the match.
Three minutes later, it was the Frenchman again to turn around the game and make it 2-1. After a fine through-ball from Calabria, Giroud made a beautiful flick to get rid of De Vrij and curled a low shot into the bottom corner, which was too much for Handanovic to handle.
After this incredible turn of events, Pioli immediately reacted and chose to solidify the midfield by replacing Bennacer with Rade Krunic for the final part of the match.
Throughout the last minutes of the match, Pioli’s men did incredibly well to keep hold of a fine result which solidifies the team’s position in the top 4 and keeps the Rossoneri well placed in the race for the Serie A title.
What a f****** class act! Giroud has been pretty poor this season but what a legend! Tonali, Maignan, Calabria, Bennacer all played excellent. Romagnoli perfect and Kalulu strong!
Re-sign Romagnoli please he loves Milan but won’t take a crap salary. Pay the man, he’s back. We don’t need a new CB at all!
Agree. Letting him go for free is absolutely insane!
Roma is average defender. Very passive and poor with ball distribution.
He’d be great as a first choice CB off the bench, but that is not someone you pay as much as he demands. Top salaries are for starters.
Diaz is back
yessssssssssss.
he changed the dynamics of the game, and it made us win.
Big Mike was a east, he kept us in the game until we came back and won the match.
Kalulu and Roma were in beast mode, most especally kalulu.
Benecer and Tonali did the dirty job.
Milan will perform best when you least expected.
Yeah
Diaz is back
No, he’s not entirely back. Still his usual self, although he won some important fouls in the opponent half to make our presence felt in attack, and that kept the pressure on Inter’s defence. It’s down to Pioli, he did the trick in the locker room during the break, and the team had a different spirit during the second half.
either luck or genius by Pioli, Saele. had tough badasses in Perisic and Brozovic, Kessie playing but not up to the level expected. Inzaghi took the badasses out, Pioli brought in Junior and Diaz, changed the whole complection of the game, with them working the inside lanes/areas allowing for Calabria to come farther forward with a run to service Giro. But agree this will definately boost not only his confidence but define where his contributions will be most effective in the future.
Eat that calhanoglu😂😂😂😂😂.Forza milan
It’s a memorable night that’s what I have to say
Theo goes valverde 🤣🤣
After the terrible first half, I am happy we managed to pull ourselves together and turn things around. That red card was totally avoidable if only Tonali played the ball forward on time. Braham Diaz was so much better than he has been recently. Can’t he play like this when he is in the starting line-up. Giroud was getting on my nerves but what he did in the end totally offset it. Forza Milan.
I agree with you on Giroud, he was frustrating to watch on the first half. And Tonali could have gotten rid of the ball instead of letting Dumfries win it back, Dumfries had been a thorn in his flesh all game, and honestly at that point nothing was going to stop Theo from winning this game…lol
Giroud is useless if you don’t deliver ball to him. So I can’t blame him for poor performance. We didn’t provide any moments for him.
Zlatan is a longsword which is pretty versatile. Giroud is a lance which is less versatile but more powerful when it needs to say the final word.
Anyone who wants Pioli to leave needs to STFU!
Forza Milan!!!!
Pioli doesn’t have a problem. He just isn’t given a team with depth. But I fault him for allowing Pobega out on loan for Bakayoko transfer. Good enough to let the kid get playing time on loan, but not in a swap deal for an out-of-form player who came in injured.
I totally agree that Pioli is fantastic and should stay in Milan. Buuuuut he actually messed up today by putting Kessie as CAM. Diaz changed the game when he came in. Before that we could not string together two staright passses in Inter’s half.
he made half time adjustment , Rebic if not injured (again) would have been better choice. We found out something today, we can not count on Kessie, he tried but not anywhere as hard as others tried. We can fault some of our players, but in retrospect Inter is a badass team, tough SOB defenders. Sometimes worried about Pioli , but HE showed courage today by his substitutions.
I think he made a right choice. By starting with Kessie he tried to tie the center and slow down Inter’s build ups.
Then he just let Diaz in over the tired opponents. Otherwise Diaz could struggle playing against ‘fresh’ Brozovich considering the experience and physical difference of the two.
I agree. Pioli works with a limited amount of resources. He doesn’t have a UCL level team, he cannot even buy someone, half of his squad is injured. We cannot ask for more from him than he is already doing. Being a title contender with AC Milan’s resources is already a great job.
And he brought that UCL anthem back to SanSiro.
No need for another manager pioli is a good coach he get on very well with the players,Milan is like a family let’s stay unit we can win the scudetto, don’t give up,lastly for those who want to leave milan,they are free to leave,but remember what Milan has done for you,i am for Milan for life.please don’t forget your fans from seychelles.
I predicted the scoreline…and I told y’all the new pitch is our January signing
Haha well said
BTW…mike for MOTM
Kessie was poor as a 10. He slowed the game down all night.
Diaz changed the game.
Thumbs up to all the boys and men
Kessie already started playing for Inter😅
I think that was the point to let him play as a CAM. When you play against top level attacking team and their strong midfielders you should slow down the game by creating a crowd in the center otherwise you end up in a big trouble. Considering our injuries (Tomori and Kjaer) Pioli focused more not to score but to cut Inter’s attacking chains whilst relying on Giroud’s experience (and youngsters’ speed) to find the target on counter-attacks. So Kessie wasn’t there to score or assist. He was there to stomp Brozovic’s legs and ruin build ups.
Forza Milan .. the Club is bigger than a player, especially the player who dont have loyalty, who always think about money .. just release kessie like Milan did with donnaruma, Milan will find better person, but please keep Romagnoli…
The 1st half was poor due to wrong tactics. The introduction of Messias and Diaz made the tempo of the game increase. It is a great performance from Mike, Tonali, Rogmanoli, Kalulu and of course Theo. The tackle that led to red card was a good decision. He sacrificed his next match to secure the 3 points.
Forza Milan
Theo. His usual defensive liabilities
Got beat in the air like three times by Dumfries in the first half. It usually happens to him and also some kind of card. Wouldn’t be too sad if Theo is sacrificed in a season or two for big money to strengthen other areas and a proper LB brought in.
That was a foul by Dumfries every time. Ref should have called that. There is little you can do when someone pushes off your back to get higher in the air….
I think Theo will be fine. Just need to change our formation to 3-5-2 or something in the future. So he will become a midfielder with more work in the front.
Great win especially from behind. Horrible first 60 min or so – subs made all the difference. Lots of heart and character to never give up esp against a superior side. Pioli doing wonders. Can only imagine what kind of team we could be w a few more quality players. When will Maldini teach Theo how to defend lol. Dumprhies was a beast (someone we could have signed last season) but Theo needs to be taught a few lessons in defending 101. Almost cost us the game. Mike is amazing. Lucky to have him. Game could have easily been over by end of first half if not for him. Kalulu I thought was solid – kid never gets enough praise. Salesmakers has regressed. Diaz – well done much needed – hope he can maintain the form he just showed
Wait until Rebic comes back……we can win this!!!
My thoughts:
1. Inter lost because of Inzaghi’s stupid subs. He is still in Lazio by mind when he had an extremely limited squad and had to save every player’s every minute. So he just ruined the game he was winning about.
2. ACMilan didn’t create anything but 1 goal attempt in 70 minutes which is really nothing. Our best man is still Mike Maignan and it is not a good signal when your keeper has that much work to do. We still don’t play at the same level as Inter, we lost the control over the game, our passes and tactics suck, and so on. We still in deep need of good players.
3. Pioli is a better coach than Indzaghi. Pioli managed to slow down Inter and stop (with a help of Maignan’s golden hands) their attacking power. So I guess that was the point of using Kessie as CAM. Inter play with 5 mids on build ups whilst we have only 2 and we also don’t have Tomori and Kjaer. So Pioli used Kessie, Tonali and Bennacer as a triangle to cut Inter’s attack in the center without delivering the ball to Kalulu and Romagnoli zone. And then he just did what he is best at — made proper subs.
GIROUD IS TECHNICALLY BRILLIANT ..He had immense belief in himself and this team.
I have said this before and I will say it again,he is the most underrated striker in the world ..He is still a class act and he will score goals .He knows exactly where to be a the right time , this is not luck but a pure skill…This Ac Milan team never gives up ..
I believe we can win the league.