Inter booked their place in the final of the Coppa Italia with a resounding 3-0 victory over AC Milan in the second leg of the semi-final at San Siro.
The game could not have started worse for Milan as Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring inside five minutes with a thumping volley that Mike Maignan could only parry into the top corner, and it was 2-0 before the break when the Argentine doubled his tally with a composed finish after being put through.
There was a moment of controversy when Ismael Bennacer appeared to have halved the deficit with a sumptuous strike from outside the box but it was ruled out by VAR for an apparent offside, and Robin Gosens added some undeserved gloss on the scoreline.
The result is certainly a big dent in the hopes of winning a trophy this season as Fiorentina or Juventus await Inter in the final, while it remains to be seen what ramifications it has on the title race, but the initial feeling is that it cannot be good.
Stefano Pioli made just one change to the starting line-up that beat Genoa on Friday night as Davide Calabria came back into the starting line-up having recovered from his intestinal problem, with Pierre Kalulu shifted back to partnering Fikayo Tomori again with Matteo Gabbia dropping to the bench.
It took less than four minutes for Inter to get themselves ahead in the tie and it came via a splendid goal from Lautaro Martinez. A feed from Matteo Darmian down their right side found its way to the Argentine who finished with a powerful volley past Mike Maignan that he had no chance saving.
Milan went about trying to restore parity quickly knowing that an equalising goal would put them ahead in the tie, and a nice flick around the corner from Olivier Giroud sparked a break that ended with Franck Kessie firing a shot into the side netting at the near post.
The game descended into the kind of scrappy battle for supremacy that the first leg did with a lot of late niggling challenges and attempts at counter-attacks from both sides that lacked a bit of quality in the final third.
In the 28th minute Milan tested Samir Handanovic for the first time as the ball was shifted quickly out wide to Rafael Leao who attacked the box in a two-on-two situation, shifting onto his left foot and firing towards the near post but seeing his attempt well saved.
Handanovic made yet another excellent saw down low to his side when a free-kick from the left wing was cleared out to Alexis Saelemaekers whose half-volley was heading inside the post yet was excellently saved.
The pressure from Pioli’s men continued as they kept winning the ball back high up the pitch and Giroud couldn’t get out of the way after Leao’s cut-back was diverted towards goal by Sandro Tonali, though it may have been heading wide anyway.
There was a bizarre moment ten minutes before the break when the referee Mariani gave a free-kick to Inter just outside the edge of the box despite it looking like Theo was the one fouled, and Maignan was happy to see Barella’s effort from distance fizz over the bar after the delivery had been cleared.
Milan had two huge chances to level things as the minutes ticked towards half time. The first came when a one-two saw Theo Hernandez receive a pass in behind that he turned almost across the goal line but Kessie could not beat Perisic to it to convert, then Leao saw another shot from inside the box saved by Handanovic.
The missed chances would end up being costly as Inter doubled their advantage moments later. A swift counter attack involving Joaquin Correa and Lautaro ended saw the former slot the latter through on goal as Tomori played him onside, and the Argentine lifted the ball over Maignan to make it 2-0.
Pioli decided to make two changes at the interval knowing they needed two goals to get back on level terms, with Junior Messias and Brahim Diaz coming on in place of Saelemaekers and Tonali.
The first opportunity of the second half went to Simone Inzaghi’s side as Lautaro shifted the ball from foot to foot on his approach to the box before seeing a low shot saved to prevent a hat-trick.
Theo Hernandez fired the next shot on goal when he picked the ball up and charged towards goal, basically scuffing his attempt into the ground as it rolled wide of the far post.
With 25 minutes left on the clock, Milan thought they had got themselves back into the game and when Bennacer rattled a loose ball in from just outside the edge of the box. A lengthy VAR review commenced to check if Tomori handled the ball in the build-up but in the end it was Kalulu who was harshly adjudged to be offside when the ball whistled through the crowd.
A final double change came with 18 minutes left as Bennacer was replaced by Rade Krunic and Matteo Gabbia came on for Calabria, with Kalulu shifting over to right-back.
The game was put to bed inside the final ten minutes when Robin Gosens stole in at the far post and diverted the ball into an empty net to cap off a demoralising defeat.
