The fourth Milan Derby of the season eventually favored Inter, who defeated city rivals Milan with a convincing 3-0 result on Tuesday to secure their place in the Coppa Italia final. That Nerazzurri meet the winner of tomorrow’s clash between Juventus and Fiorentina in the Rome final on 11 May.
With their former legend Adriano watching the game from the San Siro stands, Simone Inzaghi’s boys have benefited from the best version of Lautaro Martinez this season. The Argentine tipped the game in his favor with a brace in the first half before Robin Gosens rounded up late in the game.
Milan were speechless as they were the better side for much of the game but were unable to find the back of the net – an all too common problem for them Rossoneri in the last weeks.
The derby quickly caught fire. In the fourth minute, Matteo Darmian passed the ball on for Lautaro Martinez who, with a lightning-fast volley, twisted Mike Maignan’s hands and suddenly gave Inter the lead.
Milan responded with a finish from Frank Kessié, who hit the side netting. Inter’s next (and only) chance came from a free-kick from Hakan Calhanoglu, which slammed into the goal Rossoneri Wall.
Milan took control and were the dominant force for most of the first half. Rafael Leao attacked from the left and forced Samir Handanovic to take a corner kick. Alexis Saelemaekers challenged the Slovenian shot-stopper from outside the box and found him attentive. Then it was Olivier Giroud who blocked a shot from Sandro Tonali that seemed destined to hit the back of the net.
Inter started struggling to contain Milan’s attacks, particularly along the left channel where Theo Hernandez and Leao formed the usual unstoppable chain.
In the 38th minute, Milan had their best chance: Hernandez got well into the Inter penalty area and offered Kessié a chance to put the ball in from close range, but Ivan Perisic came to the rescue and blocked the ball right on the goal line desperate slide tackle with a pass.
Shortly after the danger was averted, Inter punished the opposition in perfect Italian football fashion: Goal sbagliato, goal subito (“To miss a goal is to concede one”). Again Perisic served Martinez with a brilliant filter pass on the counter and El Toro chipped the ball past Maignan and doubled it Nerazzurri‘s lead.
Pioli brought on Brahim Diaz and Junior Messias after half-time, with Tonali and Saelemaekers on the bench.
Wanting a third, Lautaro tested Maignan again six minutes after the restart, but this time the Frenchman had the upper hand.
Just like in the first half that Rossoneri dominated the middle part of the period when Brahim Diaz in particular infused new creative forces into Pioli’s band. Milan managed to pull one back when Ismael Bennacer fired a rocket from a free-kick pushed back by Inter’s defence, leaving Handanovic unhappy. However, referee Mariani repelled Milan’s attempt because of an offside position by Pierre Kalulu after a long VAR check.
The missed chance dashed the hopes of the Rossoneri, who conceded again before full time. Robins Gosens, who came on as a second-half substitute for Simone Inzaghi, added to Milan’s troubles in the 81st minute when he tapped the ball in after a service from Marcelo Brozovic. It was too severe a punishment for them Rossonerione that could also affect the race for the scudetto from a mindset perspective.
GAME scorecard
April 19, 2022 – Coppa Italia 2021-2022 semifinals
INTER 3-0 MILAN
Goalscorers: 4′ Lautaro Martinez, 40′ Lautaro Martinez, 82′ Gosens
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INTER (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, A. Bastoni (79′ D’Ambrosio); Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu (73′ Vidal), Perisic (79′ Gosens); Correa (70′ Sanchez), Lautaro Martinez (70′ Dzeko) (I. Radu, Ranocchia, Darmian, Dimarco, Gagliardini, Vecino, Correa, Caicedo) Coaches: S.Inzaghi |
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MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria (73′ Gabbia), Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Tonali (46′ Brahim Diaz), Bennacer (73′ Krunic); Saelemaekers (46′ Messiah), Kessié, Rafael Leao (86′ Lazetic); Giroud (Tatarusanu, Mirante, Ballo-Touré, Castillejo, Rebic, Bakayoko) Coaches: pioli |
REFEREE: Mr. Mariani of Aprilia
REMARKS: Yellow cards: Skriniar (I), Tomori (M); Overtime: 1st half 1′, 2nd half 6′
