Inter vs Milan 1-2: Gabbia Breaks Derby Losing Streak

…and now? Who can make any sense out of this crazy Serie A season start, where the defending champions can lose a derby against their cross-city rivals who seemed to be going through a deep identity crisis?

The verdict of the first Derby di Milano of the season certified Milan’s surprising redemption as the Rossoneri came back to winning ways in a stracittadina after six losses in a row. Goals from Christian Pulisic (another early scoring for the US soccer stalwart!) and Matteo Gabbia finally broke the curse for the red-and-black side of Milano, while Federico Dimarco’s equalizer only gave a temporary relief to Simone Inzaghi’s side. 

Paulo Fonseca is safe for now. Milan’s Portuguese coach knew that the derby was some sort of a last call for him after a staggering season start. He went all in with an aggressive lineup featuring two strikers, Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham, with Pulisic and Rafael Leao playing wide on the wings. It was an unprecedented setup for the Rossoneri, but it paid off.  

Milan’s start was relentless and showed that their approach to the game was the right one – much different from their lackadaisical performance vs. Liverpool from just a few days ago. Morata stung Yann Sommer’s gloves after just four minutes, but it was Pulisic to draw first blood with a fantastic solo run. 

Captain America snatched the ball from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s feet at midfield and dashed all across Inter’s defensive third, finishing his run with a soft touch to slot the ball into the bottom right corner past Sommer. It was goal number three for Pulisic this Serie A campaign.

Milan’s opener was a wake up call for Inzaghi’s boys. Inter were quick to regain their composure and were in control of the operations for the rest of the first half. While Pulisic’s goal had been the result of an individual effort, the Nerazzurri‘s equalizer originated from some fine team play.

On 28 minutes, Nicolò Barella’s long range pass from the right channel picked Dimarco on the opposite side of the pitch. Inter’s youth product exchanged the ball with Lautaro Martinez and was serviced back by the Argentinian. His sharp diagonal shot left no chance to Mike Maignan.

After 45 minutes of play, the real piece of news was that finally the Derby di Milano was being a close contest, much to the pleasure of the 75,000 crowd at the San Siro. Before referee Maurizio blew for half time, Maignan had to keep Milan afloat with a monstruous save from a Marcus Thuram conclusion.  

Inter had another opportunity right after the restart, and it took a superb Gabbia slide clearance to prevent Dimarco from hitting the net again. However, it was the Rossoneri to create the best chances in the second period. Sommer denied Tijjani Reijnders, then was spared by Rafael Leao who fired the ball right into him from a favorable position (It was another puzzling performance for the Portuguese starlet, who was wasteful and inconsistent…). Abraham’s shot sailed wide of the far post by a few inches. 

Milan were putting together a convincing performance and maybe that was already enough for them to be happy with the derby‘s outcome (after all, simply not losing it was a step forward compared with the last two years…).

But then, with just one minute to go, their youth product Gabbia found a sensational winner, turning Emerson Royal’s cross from the end line into a clinical header that landed into the top right corner of Sommer’s goal. 

Milan were expected to be the sacrificial lamb tonight, instead they won the Derby della Madonnina after six losses in a row. They are now even on points with Inter in the Serie A table, both having eight. Oh, and by the way, sitting top of the table are Torino. Somebody help us make sense of all this please.  

MATCH SCORECARD

September 22, 2024 – Serie A 2024/25 Round 5
INTER – MILAN 1-2

SCORERS: 10′ Pulisic (M), 27′ Dimarco (I), 89′ Gabbia (M)