Inter 2-3 AC Milan: Rossoneri produce stunning comeback to lift 50th trophy

AC Milan produced a stunning comeback to beat their rivals Inter and lift the Supercoppa Italiana, triumphing 3-2 in Saudi Arabia.

Inter found themselves in complete control thanks to goals from Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi either side of the half-time whistle, and it looked like they were heading for a fourth straight Super Cup win.

However, Milan never gave up and they spun the game on its head in the second half. Theo Hernandez scored with a free-kick to halve the deficit, Christian Pulisic equalised with a sweet strike and Tammy Abraham won it in the dying moments.

Sergio Conceicao made just one change to the starting line-up from the team that beat Juventus on Friday night, with Yunus Musah – who fired in the cross that was deflected for the winning goal – coming in for Ismael Bennacer.

There was a moment of panic inside the Inter box in the fifth minute of the game when Alvaro Morata looked to play in Christian Pulisic down the left side but the ricochet nearly put him through on goal, though Sommer came out and cleared in the nick of time. Moments later at the other end Malick Thiaw made an excellent challenge to stop Lautaro getting in on goal after a good touch from a long ball.

Pulisic made a brilliant pass through the Inter lines to find the run in behind from Tijjani Reijnders, who took a couple of touches and tried to sneak a shot in at the near post rather than cutting back, but hit the side-netting.

One of the sub-plots to the game was Taremi coming up against his former boss at Porto in Conceicao, and he should have perhaps done better with a header he attempted to guide inside the far post from a deep cross.

Milan once again managed to breach through Inter’s block in the 15th minute thanks to some excellent footwork from Reijnders, who weaved around two men and into the box with just Sommer to beat, yet he toe-poked his effort wide when he maybe should have put his foot through it.

Mike Maignan was called into action for the first time when a flowing Inter counter-attack found its way to Dimarco on the left side and he unleashed a shot that was heading for the top corner before the strong palm away.

The main thing that happened in a rather dull final 20 minutes of the first half was Inter’s regista Calhanoglu going off after tweaking his groin. In terms of chances though they were few and far between, with plenty of inaccurate crosses and some important blocks too.

With 10 seconds of added time left, Inter took a lead they probably didn’t deserve, but Milan only had themselves to blame as they completed switched off from a throw-in. Several players were jogging back when the ball was sent down the left, with Taremi finding Lautaro on the far side of the box and the Argentine striker firing low into the back of the net after chopping back inside.

Another defensive switch-off was to blame as Inter doubled their advantage pretty much straight after the break, with Taremi turning from provider to scorer. A long ball over the top from De Vrij managed to split the centre-backs and the Iran international brought it down well, steadying himself inside the box and bending a precise shot inside the right post with Maignan rooted.

The response from Conceicao was immediate, as Alex Jimenez made way for Rafael Leao. Leao’s involvement was immediate as he surged forward after Inter lost possession inside their own half but was taken out by Mkhitaryan about 20 yards out.

From that resulting set piece, Milan halved the deficit and it was a quite simply brilliant free-kick from Theo Hernandez. The Frenchman stepped up and hit it with the inside of his left foot, curling it past the diving Sommer into the bottom corner with just enough power given it went to his side.

The action exploded in the early part of the second half, with Maignan saving a stinging central shot from Mkhitaryan and then rolling it out to Theo who charged onwards with the ball but got taken out by Dumfries, who was booked.

Pulisic had a great chance to level right on the hour mark as a header back across goal by Theo from Fofana’s cross found the American, yet he headed straight at Sommer from a few yards out. Moments later, Leao went on a tearing run and provided a cut-back for Reijnders, who hit it first time with an outstretched boot but Bastoni was there to block with his head.

The chances kept coming for the Rossoneri, with Sommer required to produce yet more heroics, making a stop on the line to thwart Morata’s header after he had been found at the far stick by Pulisic’s cross.

Inter were inches away from re-establishing a two-goal lead when Bisseck stood a cross up from the byline that found substitute Augusto at the far post. His header seemed to rattle around and hit the post, with Maignan then claimed.

With just less than 15 minutes on the clock, Conceicao decided to inject some fresh legs with Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming on for Reijnders and Musah.

In the 79th minute, Milan got themselves level in the game and just like in the semi-final, it was Christian Pulisic who got the goal. Theo was found in space down the left side and pulled a perfect cut-back into the box, with the American bringing the ball under the control and finding the far corner with a shot across his body, levelling it at 2-2.

Just as it looked like the game was heading for penalty kicks, there was one final bit of drama and the Rossoneri delivered it. In the third minute of five added, a brilliant through ball from Pulisic found Leao, who hit the ball into the ground to square for Abraham and the tap-in sparked rapturous scenes.