A turn of fate seems to come into Ac Milan’s path this season as step by step they keep on getting stronger especially in serie A, a valid prove of the Rossoneri strength was visible as they beat their bitter rival Inter Milan 1-0 on Sunday night.
After failing to register any single victories against the Nerazzurri last season, the three point that Massimiliano Allegri’s side picked up on the first derby this season can definitely be a massive morale boost that will lift up their season.
Just as previous derbies the match on Sunday night was definitely full of interesting drama as the only goal of the game was scored by an ex-Inter star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who celebrated the goal in front of the Nerazzurri devotees. Ibrahimovic’s early goal comes from the spot kick after, Marco Materazzi made a clumsy tackle on Ibra inside the penalty box as the Swedish striker already turned the Inter defender.
The goal lift up the game as Inter are trying to get the equalizer as soon as possible, however the Rossoneri seemed fired up and have more energy in the game as it was them that went close in getting the goals. Mathieu Flamini almost successfully latched on into Ibrahimovic’s pass but was denied by an excellent last ditch tackle by Ivan Cordoba, minutes later Clarence Seedorf almost get in the end of another Ibra’s pass but Materazzi redeemed his early mistake by clearing the ball right on time.
With the absence of several important players such as Julio Cesar, Esteban Cambiasso and Maicon, Inter seemed rattled and are having problems in just trying to create a dangerous chance at Milan’s goal. The first half ended with the away team are well on top and should have added one or two more goals as they were the likeliest team to score among the two teams. Things doesn’t change much in the second half, although Milan looked to take their foot of the gas earlier on as Inter kept on trying hard to break the Rossoneri down.
The air seemed blowing across the Nerazzurri midway into the second half after Milan were forced to finish the match with just 10 men as Ignazio Abate earned a second yellow card after getting involved in a silly brawl with Goran Pandev. Although the yellow card for Abate might be fair decision, there’s some questions might be asked for Pandev, who only got a yellow card despite being the one that started the trouble after deliberately pushing the Milan’s full back without any reason.
Despite playing with only 10 men, it was actually Milan that managed to create two dangerous opportunities few minutes later as Seedorf saw his shot inches away from Castelazzi’s goal and not long after that the Dutchman also missed out on latching to Luca Antonini’s side-rule pass in the penalty box. The Nerazzurri themselves already tried all their best by playing all of the attacking players they got but the night seemed destined for the ‘away’ team as the Rossoneri’s defends were just too good to break.
Inter Milan v Ac Milan 0-1
Goals: Ibrahimovic pen-5 (Milan)
Inter: Castellazzi; Cordoba, Lucio, Materazzi (Biabiany 67), Chivu; Zanetti, Stankovic, Obi (Coutinho 35); Sneijder; Eto’o, Milito (Pandev 46)
Milan: Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta; Gattuso (Pirlo 46), Ambrosini, Flamini; Seedorf (Boateng 72); Ibrahimovic, Robinho (Antonini 61)
photo credit: VanDammeMaarten.be
