It was a high-octane match full of emotion at San Siro where AC Milan won 3-2 against crosstown rival Inter Milan to take the first Derby della Madonnina of the season. Simone Inzaghi's side will need to quickly shake of this result with Bayern Munich looming in the Champions League midweek, while the Rossoneri are currently riding high, sitting at the top of the Serie A table with eleven points, two more than Inter.
The first half was intense and tension filled between the two sides especially with Theo Hernandez battling Inter's Denzel Dumfries up and down AC Milan's left side. The Nerazzurri had a good start and scored the opening goal of the match with Marcelo Brozovic spotting a hole in Milan's back line and making a run from deep. Joaquin Correa provided the assist, playing the ball after some very good ball protection from Lautaro Martinez. But the Rossoneri reacted positively and the game completely changed. Hakan Calhanoglu's mistake in Inter's midfield led to the equalizer scored by Rafael Leao, after a nice assist from Sandro Tonali. Pioli's side had some more chances in the first half and finished on the front foot, but failed to score a second goal.
AC Milan dominated the second half and scored immediately thanks to Olivier Giroud, the same player whose brace in the derby last February defined the Scudetto race last season. Inter's defense lost Giroud in the box, showing that all the issues of the first four matches of the Serie A season were not a fluke.
The Rossoneri added a third one when Leao who scored his second on the day, once again taking advantage of Milan Skriniar and Alessandro Bastoni's lax defending.
The Nerazzurri seemed to be totally out of the match, but they notched a second goal through Edin Dzeko, right after Inzaghi decided to bring him on for Correa. After that, Inter Milan had two clear chances to score the equalizer with Martinez, and Calhanoglu both missing, the latter thanks to an incredible save my Mike Maignan to keep AC Milan ahead.
It all ended 3-2 at San Siro, with the huge win for Rossoneri marking the first real shots fired in the Scudetto race. Inter Milan now need to react after losing their second match in five games.
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