AC Milan vs. Inter Milan: Winners and Losers from Serie A Game
Sunday night saw AC Milan "host" Inter Milan in a eagerly anticipated derby meeting in Serie A, with Joel Obi's second-half strike ultimately ensuring the game ended 1-1.
Jeremy Menez opened the scoring in the first half by finishing off a slick team move in sumptuous fashion, but Inter responded well and Obi's strike was a just reward for all their endeavours.
Both sides had chances to steal the victory in the final 20 minutes—Stephan El Shaarawy and Mauro Icardi both hit the frame of the goal—but a draw was undoubtedly a fair result considering the overall flow of the 90 minutes.
Here are some winners and losers from the contest.
Winner: Jeremy Menez
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Another big game, another amazing goal for Jeremy Menez. You sometimes wish he could maintain such individual moments of brilliance over a greater part of an individual game—or, indeed, produce such moments more often—but they are still enjoyable to watch when they arrive.
The Frenchman's strike to open the scoring on Sunday was a brilliant conclusion to the first solid team move of the match, as Stephan El Shaarawy and Michael Essien combined to get the ball into the box. Menez still had a lot of work to do, and he did it brilliantly as he opened up his body to place a powerful effort inside the far post.
Menez had other moments of quality during the game, but none of them produced a second goal. Still, he once again guaranteed his goal will be on heavy rotation in highlights packages and on social media over the coming week.
Loser: Fernando Torres
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Fernando Torres' first derby experience in Italian football seemed to pass him by somewhat, as the Spaniard once again cut a disillusioned and out-of-sorts figure up front on his own.
It is hard to be too critical of the Spaniard's work rate and desire to get involved in the game, but it cannot be ignored that, bar Menez's goal, Milan looked a more threatening attacking side once he had been withdrawn. That certainly seemed to free up Stephan El Shaarawy to take more of a central role—even if he ended up missing his side's best chance.
Torres will surely have been an expensive acquisition (in terms of wages) for Milan, so they are under a certain amount of pressure to keep faith with him. But this game underlined how poor his return has been so far.
Winner: Adil Rami
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Rami was perhaps the most impressive player on the pitch, even playing in a right-back role that few would consider to be his best.
The former Valencia defender was up and down the pitch, making important interventions at one end before impressing with some of his touches in the final third. He ended up playing a crucial role in providing what was almost the game's winner—his cross for Andrea Poli ending with the midfielder's shot deflecting agonisingly wide of Samir Handanovic's near post.
Overall, it was an impressive display from the Frenchman.
Loser: Mauro Icardi
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Mauro Icardi was presented with far and away the best chances of the match, so it was disappointing that he ended the game without getting on the scoresheet.
Diego Lopez denied him time and again, but on a couple of occasions he should not have even given the Spaniard the chance to do so—particularly the first shot of the game, when Sulley Muntari's mistake put him clean through on goal.
Perhaps it was always going to be one of those nights; even when Icardi finally did get the better of Lopez, he saw his first-time effort ricochet out off the frame of the goal. It was unfortunate, but if Icardi had been on better form on Sunday, he might have helped turn a draw into a win.
Aftewards, Icardi's team-mate Zdravko Kuzmanovic told television reporters (via Forza Italian Football):
"It is an important point. We conceded a poor goal after doing well in the first half and having created many opportunities. In the second half, we started to attack more and score.
We followed the instructions of the coach very well and I felt we were compact and defended with order and played with speed. Inter must aim high, that is what the new coach wants and what we want too.
We always want to win, unfortunately we did not succeed in this game.
I think we have improved a lot though and that is important as what the coach wants most is speed. We must work very hard to do exactly what the coach wants.
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