Hakan Calhanoglu took the Rossoneri by surprise when he suddenly announced his interest to play for Inter in the recently concluded summer transfer window, as his contract with Milan expired at the end of last season.
Less than three months later, the Turkish midfielder etched his name in Derby di Milano history books by scoring his side’s only goal of the night in a narrow 1-1 draw via a first half penalty. However, Milan equalized just minutes later with a stroke of luck as Nerazzurri defender Stefan De Vrij latched the ball into his own net from a misdirected header.
By scoring in his first match against his ex-employers Milan, Inter midfielder Calhanoglu registered himself as only one of four players in recent history to have scored against their former team in the Milan derby.
4 – Players able to score in their first Serie A Milan's derby after have played the previous one with the opponent team in the three points for a win era (dal 94/95)
Crespo (2006)
Ronaldo (2007)
Ibrahimovic (2010)#Calhanoglu (2021)Ex. #MilanInter
— OptaPaolo ? (@OptaPaolo) November 7, 2021
The other three players to have done so, as pointed out by Opta, in the three points for a win era, are Crespo (2006 vs Milan), Ronaldo (2007 vs Inter) and Ibrahimovic (2010 vs Inter).
Former Milan marksman Crespo is the only player before him to have scored as an Inter player against the Rossoneri in the 21st century.