The Derby of the Disappointed certified what was already clear since a few weeks: Milan are going through a deep crisis, while Inter may not win the Scudetto this year but are at least ahead on their way towards a Champions League spot.
A lone strike from Lautaro Martinez separated the two teams at the San Siro on Sunday night as the Nerazzurri increased their lead over their cross-town rivals to five points, even though their distance from top-ranked Napoli is still sidereal. That was the verdict of a lackluster edition of the Derby della Madonnina that will hardly make it to the history of calcio.
Simone Inzaghi opted to deploy Lautaro upfront together with Edin Dzeko, while Romelu Lukaku was only fit for the bench. The future PSG player Milan Skriniar retook his spot in the middle of the defense, thus featuring for the first time since he decided not to renew his contract with the Nerazzurri.
But the news of the day was Stefano Pioli going for an unprecedented 3-5-2 setup with Simon Kjaer starting at the back for the first time since November. Divock Origi partnered with Olivier Giroud on the front line, with Rafael Leao once again dropping to the bench. It was not a very successful experiment as Milan failed to record a single real shot on target across the 90 minutes of play.
Inter were in control from the get-go while Milan’s main goal seemed to be to limit the damage. Lautaro Martinez was picked in the box by Henrik Mkhitaryan and tried to steer the match in the Nerazzurri‘s direction early on but Ciprian Tatarusanu palmed away his header challenge.
The Argentine tested the Milan goal again on nine minutes, this time serviced by Skriniar, but his header ended narrowly off target this time.
Inter slowed the match tempo down after an overly aggressive start but remained in control as Milan only recorded a few feeble attempts to catch them by surprise on the counter.
On 34 minutes, the Nerazzurri‘s pressure bore fruit as Lautaro headed the ball home from a corner, leaving no chance to the Milan goalie. Had the Argentine been so lethal during the World Cup, Messi and co. would have won it much more easily…
The first half ended with Tatarusanu scrambling to push back another shooting attempt directly from a corner kick. Milan needed some sort of a different game plan and Pioli tried to charge early on as he sent in Brahim Diaz for an inconsistent Junior Messias.
He soon followed up with Rafael Leao for Origi, while Alexis Saelemakers replaced Davide Calabria. Simone Inzaghi waited the one-hour mark to make his first changes, sending in Romelu Lukaku, Marcelo Brozovic and Robin Gosens all together.
Still, the second period had little to offer, save for two disallowed goals that prevented the Nerazzurri from rounding up the score. Lukaku found the back of the net with a pure power effort in the middle of the box but was punished for fouling an opponent in the buildup. Lautaro should have bagged a brace but the semi-automatic offside technology caught him inches beyond the defensive line as he beat Tatarusanu for the second time.
As Brahim Diaz’s shot was easily blocked by André Onana, Milan’s only real chance of the night came from a Rafael Leao counterattack. However, Giroud failed to control the ball from the Portuguese’s service, certifying the Rossoneri‘s current helplessness.
Inter came back to winning ways in a Derby di Milano after three games and two losses in a row. The impression was that they didn’t have to break too much of a sweat to do so. Milan are now winless in five games as they collected their third consecutive league loss.
MATCH SCORECARD
February 5, 2023 – Serie A 2022-23 Round 21
INTER – MILAN 1-0
SCORERS: 34′ Lautaro Martinez
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INTER (3-5-2): Onana; Skriniar, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella (94′ Asllani), Calhanoglu (89′ Gagliardini), Mkhitaryan (71′ Brozovic), Dimarco (71′ Gosens); Dzeko (71′ Lukaku), Lautaro Martinez (Handanovic, Cordaz, Dumfries, De Vrij, Bellanova, D’Ambrosio, Carboni, Zanotti) Coach: S. Inzaghi |
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MILAN (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Kjaer (86′ Rebic), Gabbia (70′ Thiaw); Calabria (55′ Saelemaekers), Messias (46′ Brahim Diaz), Tonali, Krunic, Hernandez; Giroud, Origi (55′ Rafael Leao) (Vasquez, Mirante, Ballo-Touré, Adli, Bakayoko, Pobega, Vranckx, De Ketelaere) Coach: Pioli |
REFEREE: Mr. Massa from Imperia
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Kalulu (M), Gabbia (M), Rafael Leao (M), Mkhitaryan (I), Acerbi (I), Giroud (M), Rebic (M); Added Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 5′