In three minutes, Inter steered the European Derby di Milano in their direction and built a two-goal advantage that could very well prove decisive. The first leg of the second Champions League Semi-Final saw Inter prevail over Milan 2-0 thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Simone Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri took the game by storm and hit twice within 11 minutes from kick off as Milan were totally caught by surprise by their city rivals’ onslaught. They slowly reorganized themselves in the second half but Andre Onana was never seriously put in trouble.
Inter reaped the rewards of their better approach to the game as Milan suffered terribly for the absence of their talismanic winger Rafael Leao, who didn’t manage to recover from his recent injury. A few hours before the game, the Portuguese had renewed his contract with Milan until 2028 and, in retrospect, that was the only good news of the day for the Diavolo.
Milan’s ordeal started on eight minutes, when Dzeko conjured the first goal of the night literally out of nowhere. The Bosnian star volleyed the ball past Mike Maignan from an Hakan Calhanoglu corner kick, anticipating a bewildered Davide Calabria in the process.
Three minutes later, the Nerazzurri took advantage of Milan’s confusional state to add another one to their tally. Mkhitaryan penetrated in the box to catch a pass from Federico Dimarco and slot the ball home for the second time. Honorable mention for Lautaro Martinez, who cleverly let the ball slide past him and reach the Armenian midfielder.
Inter were in berserk mode and should have made it three when Hakan Calhanoglu drove a terrific shot on target, but this time the post saved the Rossoneri. Nicoló Barella’s subsequent shot was saved by Maignan as Milan somehow got off the hook.
Since when it rains, it pours, Pioli’s side also lost Ismael Bennacer as the Algerian picked a knee injury and had to be replaced by Junior Messias. Milan’s first and only shot in the first period came on 30 minutes but Calabria’s back heel deflection from an exchange with Brahim Diaz hit the side netting.
On 30 minutes, Milan breathed a sigh of relief one more time. Lautaro Martinez collapsed in the box from what looked like a Simon Kjaer push, but the VAR clarified that the Argentine had rather gone for a dive. The Nerazzurri‘s penalty claims were dismissed.
The last portion of the first half saw the Rossoneri organize some sort of a reaction but their attacking attempts were chaotic and ultimately inconsistent.
Milan restarted off on the right foot with a Brahim Diaz curl that narrowly missed the target, then Messias squandered a golden filtering pass from Tonali as he sent his shot wide away from Onana’s far post.
It seemed like Pioli’s side could get back into the match, but Inter proved that they could equally deliver them a fatal blow by any moment. It was up to Maignan to keep his side afloat again, the Frenchman denying Dzeko one-vs-one to spare the Rossoneri more blushes.
The game became more fragmented towards the end as both sides grew tired. Both coaches reshuffled their decks as Pioli added Divock Origi upfront to partner with Olivier Giroud, while Simone Inzaghi rotated his whole offensive package – with Romelu Lukaku and Joaquin Correa replacing Lautaro and Dzeko.
The most dangerous chance was powered by Sandro Tonali, who took it upon himself to finalize a nice team effort kickstarted by Origi, but the Rossoneri‘s dynamo’s shot took a deflection and ended its run right into the post.
Inter capitalized on the double lead they built in the first-half and wrapped their first win ever in a European cups confrontation against their cross-town rivals. The pair will meet again next Tuesday, when the Nerazzurri will have the “home” advantage and a much better view on the Champions League Final in Istanbul. The days of the Triplete never seemed so close.