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.