Inter Milan Wins Bragging Rights After Dramatic Derby

The expectations ahead of the second “Derby della Madonnina” of the season were sky-high. In the clash dubbed “The Scuderby,” by Italian press, there was more than pride and prestige at stake. A victory in favor of Milan would not only blow open the title race, but it would also give them much needed revenge after the 4-0 thrashing at the hands of their archrivals at the beginning of the season.

The atmosphere inside the mighty Stadio Giuseppe Meazza was almost tangible as the roar of 84,000 spectators welcomed the two teams onto the field.

First half

The game got off to an explosive start with Milan showcasing both aggressiveness and determination right from the get-go as they pushed high up the field with in-form Ronaldinho looking particularly lively. The intense derby atmosphere was to be expected and only three minutes from kickoff, David Beckham received the first booking of the game.

Despite the Rossoneri’s ambitions, it was Inter who fired off the early warnings shots as Wesley Sneijder’s close range effort hit the top of Nelson Dida’s right post.

The home side quickly grew into the game and took the lead on 10 minutes as Ignazio Abate tried to head home Goran Pandev’s long shot, but instead headed it right in to the path of Milito, who with an angled drive broke the deadlock—making it 1-0 for the home side.

Milan tried to react but with Marco Borriello isolated at the top, long range efforts were repeatedly smashed over the bar. Instead Inter started taking control of the game as they ran the flanks with confidence with both Milito and Pandev going ahead to test the reflexes of the Rossoneri goalkeeper.

However, Milan was given a huge boost on 26 minutes. Lucio went down like a ton of bricks but referee Gianluca Rocchi wasn’t going to have any of it—instead the Brazilian defender received a booking for simulation. An infuriated Sneijder sarcastically applauded the decision and insulted the referee for a good amount of time before he was given a straight red card for his troubles. The decision lead to some heated discussion amongst the Nerazzurri players as the livid Dutchman was forced off the pitch by his teammates.

The tension exploded and the game only intensified after the dismissal, as tempers flared on both sides. On the half hour mark, Rocchi missed a clear handball on Maicon as Ronaldinho tried an ambitious overhead kick, but the referee, who up till then had been close to flawless, waved play on.

The chaotic play continued as the first half came towards its end and despite fighting against 10-man Inter, Leonardo’s men were having trouble creating any real danger.

Second half

After the interval, Leonardo introduced Clarence Seedorf for a struggling Gennaro Gattuso. The effect was almost immediate as the Dutchman came close to scoring in the opening minutes of the second half courtesy of a Beckham corner – but saw a brilliant Julio Cesar parry the shot with his legs.

Whatever Leonardo had said during the break seemed to have worked as the Rossoneri poured forward in numbers and pegged the Nerazzurri back into their own half. José Mourinho’s men were under siege but seemed content doing the defending as the visiting side looked to find the equalizer.

The game had lost some of its intensity from the first half, but that didn’t stop the crowd from singing in full voice. A lot of Milan’s offense was coming from the right flank with Abate and Beckham feeding the balls into the area where Ronaldinho and Borriello wasted some good opportunities to level the score.

On 63 minutes Milito played a wonderful through ball to an on-rushing Pandev who unexpectedly found himself one-on-one with Dida, but as the Rossoneri defenders called for offside, the Macedonian chipped the ball over the shotstopper—only to be denied by the post.

The forward would make amends only three minutes later when Inter were awarded a free-kick outside at the edge of the area after Maicon went down a little too easy. With Sneijder dismissed, Pandev stepped up and curled the ball into Dida’s top left hand corner, extending the home side’s lead to 2-0. However, the following minute a visibly disappointed Pandev was forced to make way for Thiago Motta as Mourinho sought to hold on to the lead.

Inter once again fell back to defend their lead as Milan desperately looked for a way back into the game. With 15 minutes to go, Leonardo introduced Marek Jankulovski for the tired and injured Luca Antonini and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for Massimo Ambrosini.

Mourinho countered five minutes later by throwing in the very unpredictable Mario Balotelli for Milito closely followed by the substitution of Sulley Muntari for Ivan Cordoba. As the clock headed into the stoppages, Mourinho did everything he could to fire up the supporters.

As five minutes of stoppage time was announced, Milan were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Inter defense, but it was Huntelaar who came closest to scoring, however, but the Dutchman was denied by the shotstopper from point-blank range.

With three minutes left to go, the Rossoneri were handed a life-line into the game as Lucio handled the ball inside the box. The Brazilian was shown his second yellow card and left Inter to finish the game with only nine men.

Ronaldinho stepped up to take the following spot kick and despite having scored four goals from the penalty spot this season alone, the former Barcelona-man watched on in dismay as his fellow countryman, Julio Cesar went the right way—giving Inter a very well deserved victory.

Inter Milan 2, AC Milan, 0

1-0 (10) Milito, 2-0 (66) Pandev

Inter Milan : Julio Cesar; Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Santon; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari (Cordoba 88); Sneijder; Pandev (Thiago Motta 67), Milito (Balotelli 79)

AC Milan : Dida; Abate, Thiago Silva, Favalli, Antonini (Jankulovski 76); Gattuso (Seedorf 46), Pirlo, Ambrosini (Huntelaar 79); Beckham, Borriello, Ronaldinho

Dismissed; Wesley Sneijder (26), Lucio (91)

Ref: Gianluca Rocchi