After four games into the new Serie A season, AC Milan were far away from any kind of good form. Rossoneri managed only five points from a possible 12, and were in 13th place at the table. On top of that, they were defeated 3-1 at home to Liverpool in the Champions League. A public secret in Italy was that coach Paulo Fonseca would be fired if Milan allows another defeat from Inter Milan. On paper, a tough task – to turn around the result against the toughest opponent, the current Italian champion and a team who managed to defeat them six straight times. But in practice, Fonseca and his men made it: Inter – Milan 1-2.It was a great Derbi della Madonnina, with three goals and plenty of chances but more opportunities were created by Rossoneri who obviously had more desire in this game. They needed this win badly, while Inter Milan players were also thinking about the other upcoming games, and after all, they did won the last six derbies. The win should have been more convincing, but Milan forwards missed a lot of good opportunities, while Sommer saved some of them too. As for Inter, they had a historical chance to defeat Milan for the seventh consecutive time and get to the first place at the Serie A table, but instead, they suffered their first defeat this season and are currently in sixth place.Great goal by Christian Pulisic in the Milan derby Questions asked with that Inter defending pic.twitter.com/Wzy0C4dMzW— TweetChelseaUK (@TweetChelseaUK) September 22, 2024 Under the pressure of a potential dismissal, depending on the result and performance in the 240th Milan derby, Fonseca changed his formation for the first time this season. Instead of starting in the usual 4-2-3-1, he opted for a 4-4-2 system, fielding Tammy Abraham and Álvaro Morata together up front. However, the team struggled for three-quarters of the match to provide adequate service to its strikers. But Milan entered the game with far more courage than their city rivals, setting aside the burden of six consecutive derby defeats. Their boldness paid off—more through individual brilliance than team play—as Christian Pulisic made the difference in the 10th minute. He first stole the ball from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, then evaded Hakan Çalhanoğlu, and went past Benjamin Pavard, leaving Yann Sommer with no chance to save. But Inter regrouped and took possession first, before Demarco managed to level the score in the 27th minute. Clip #Goal of #DiMarco#Inter 1-1 #Milan#SerieAEnilive #soccer #football#Dimash pic.twitter.com/BTBvYgdpt1— Simo10.official (@aver82605) September 22, 2024 The second half definitely lacked the intensity and aggression from the first part of the game, but Milan should have scored and ended the game in that part of the match, especially since they had no less than four good chances! Already in the 47th minute Rossoneri should have been one up, but Leao‘s powerful header was saved by Sommer. The Swiss keeper again saved his team in the 70th minute after Leao took a shot (again), this time with his foot. But between those shots Morata blazed one shot over the bar and the referee pointed at the spot after an alleged Lautaro handball, but VAR oveturned the decision. But that was not all. In the 77th minute, Tammy Abraham missed the best chance of the game, as he had only Sommer to beat but went for power and dragged his effort wide of the post. But finally in the 89th minute, defender Matteo Gabbia managed to strike a perfect header after a Reijnders‘ cross for the much needed win.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 5FridayCagliari – Empoli 0-2 (0-1)/Colombo 33, Esposito 49/Verona – Torino 1-3 (1-2)/Kastanos 12 – Sanabria 10, Zapata 33, Adams 79/SaturdayVenezia – Genoa 2-0 (0-0)/Busio 63, Pohjanpalo 85/Juventus – Napoli 0-0Lecce – Parma 2-2 (1-0)/Dorgu 32, Krstovic 59 – Almquist 90+3, Hainaut 90+5/SundayFiorentina – Lazio 2-1 (0-1)/Gudmundsson 49 pen, 90 pen – Gila 41/Monza – Bologna (1-1)/Djuric 43 – Urbanski 24, Castro 80/Roma – Udinese 3-0 (1-0)/Dovbyk 19, Dybala 49(p), Baldanzi 70/Inter – Milan 1-2 (1-1)/Dimarco 27 – Pulisic 10, Gabbia 89/Monday21:45: (1.45) Atalanta (4.40) Como (7.25)***odds are subject to change***
