The sky above Milan was once again colored in red and black: the derby belonged to Milan, Inter again healed the wounds of missed opportunities. Pulisic’s flash in the second half was enough for the Rossoneri to beat their Nerazzurri cousins, whose shot hit two posts and squandered an equalizer with Calhanoglu again missing a heavy penalty and being hypnotized by Maignan. A goalkeeper who makes the saves and a striker who scores the goals, so to speak, using a well-known football adage, Allegri’s team moves to -2nd behind sole leaders Roma, while Chivu’s men have to question themselves for their third straight defeat in four games, of which two were played at home.
Serie A: Inter-Milan
What’s more, the run without success in this derby increased to six and you would have to go back to the period between 2002 and 2005 to find a period of equal length. At a packed San Siro (with revenues of 8.6 million euros, a record in Serie A) despite the bitter cold, Inter started the attack, a header from Thuram in the third minute immediately warming the gloves of Maignan who responded quickly. However, Inter’s pressure did not produce results, instead the Rossoneri appeared with Bartesaghi’s left foot shot which went wide. An opportunity that, however, boosted the confidence of Allegri’s men, who tried to show themselves with greater conviction in Inter’s midfield. Inter tried to break the deadlock with one of their best weapons, free kicks, and Acerbi almost took the lead with his header from a corner hitting the post. The Nerazzurri then tried to rely on Lautaro, but with Thuram’s right-footed volley, Maignan’s response was superb and with great reflexes he also saved himself with the help of the post, Inter’s second. Milan responded with Pulisic’s right-footed shot from the edge of the goal which went over the goal post on Sommer’s left.
Serie A: Inter-Milan
In the second half the scenario did not change, the Nerazzurri immediately tried to challenge Maignan through Thuram’s right footed shot which was too central. But at the first opportunity it was Milan who broke the deadlock: Saelemaekers flew in, a right-footed shot was blocked short by Sommer and Pulisic put the Rossoneri two steps ahead with an unguarded goal. Inter tried to react, the drum action saw Bastoni fire a high kick from a good position. The match progressed smoothly and the pace increased, as the Nerazzurri raised their center of gravity and Milan mounted potentially dangerous counter-attacks with every possession. Chivu tried to give his team a further surprise, even bringing out Lautaro Martinez for Bonny. However, Allegri’s team was still visible in the Sommer area, through Fofana’s right foot kick which this time made no mistake by the Swiss player. The match could have changed shortly afterwards, when Pavlovic’s kick on Thuram allowed Sozza, after a VAR review, to award a penalty to Inter: the former Calhanoglu converted the penalty, only to be caught out by Maignan. The Nerazzurri continued to press, Akanji from two steps away from a corner failed to find the right deflection. Off the bench Chivu looked for another move, switching to a trident with Bonny, Esposito and Thuram in a 4-3-3 formation, while Allegri covered himself by bringing out Leao to strengthen the midfield with Loftus-Cheek. The right ball appeared to fall to Bonny, but the Frenchman shot poorly from the edge. But this was the last chance: the derby still belonged to Milan who dreamed bigger.
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