Before Monday’s duel, Inter had won five straight Milan derbies since September 2022. Milan had to hold the city rival to at least a draw if Inter were not to secure the league title.
But those in black and red never managed to fully get back into the game after ending up 0-2 down. Thus, Inter took their sixth straight victory between the teams in all competitions.
With the victory, Inter climbs to 20 league titles, which is one more than the city rival. Milan took their 19th triumph in 2022. Juventus have won by far the most with their 36, but it has been four years since the Turin team last won Serie A.
The veteran stood forward
The leading goal came after 18 minutes when centre-back Acerbi was left all alone in the field. The 35-year-old nodded the ball into the net to wild cheers.
Before the break, Marcus Thuram had a great chance to double the lead, but the shot hit the outside of the post. Four minutes after the break, the Frenchman hit better when he took the ball into the pitch and shot in the corner from 16 metres.
Milan came up with some offensives, and ten minutes before the end the reduction came out of nowhere. The Inter goalkeeper was first able to beat Christian Pulisic’s header onto the post, but Fikayo Tomori waited for the rebound and put the ball into the goal.
Three reds
The reduction seemed to wake up what for the day was set up as the home team, but despite the fact that they created some chances, the equalizer never came.
In overtime, there was a row when Theo Hernández (Milan) and Denzel Dumfries (Inter) barked together. They were both subsequently expelled. Afterwards, Davide Calabria (Milan) also had to leave the pitch when he hit Davide Frattesi in the face in the box.
Despite Monday’s defeat, Milan have a good grip on second place. That leaves Juventus five points behind third-placed Juventus with five games remaining.
(©NTB)