Inter 1-2 Milan Notes On A Night Where Milan Turned Around A Seemingly Lost Game

Somewhat surprisingly Tomori made the bench while Ibra, Rebic and of course Kjaer were out injured. Kessie was given a midfield role, nominally further up in Diaz’s spot as a way to not get outmanned by Inter’s five man midfield formation.

After a few back and forth minutes Inter scored what was correctly judged to have been offside in the build up. In the sequence the defending and keeping did not inspire much confidence. Moment later Maignan proved yet again that his reflexes are high class punching out a shot that was deflected off Kalulu.

Inter had more control and were more confident looking. Milan remained poor in possession and unable to create vertical movement.

Just before the half hour mark Dumfries came close and Milan had Maignan to thank for stopping his shot after Milan’s defending crumbled in front of him.

The 35th minute Milan could have taken the lead, the ball was worked around outside and inside Inter’s box while Handanovic made a good save from a long range Tonali shot. Inter took the lead just a bit later. After a shot was punched out by Maignan the resulting corner had Perisic with lots of space while Milan players decided to converge into the wrong spot ball watching.

The 0-1 half time deficit could have been worse if not for Maignan’s reflexes.

Messias came on for a poor Saelemaekers at half time. The Belgian was struggling with the ball, much like most of his teammates. Minutes into the second the Kessie as marker and more advanced player was jettisoned as Diaz came on to reclaim his spot. Diaz and Leao combined for a chance that was then shot high. Inter were still in control as the match entered its final 20 minutes and Inter took out Lautaro and Perisic – for Alexis and Dimarco. And minutes later Vidal for Calhanoglu. A sub reminiscent of many Italian coaches of the past.

Soon after Milan equalized. Diaz found the ball at the edge of the box and his shot went through Inter’s defense and found a stretching Giroud who poked into an open net. The goal came from a very isolated player and at least somewhat against the run of play. The Frenchman did it again, he ran through the Inter defense took on Calabria’s pass, turned around de Vrij and just beat Handanovic. Krunic replaced Bennacer right after the goal.

Late in the game Hernandez tackled the oft diving Dumfries from behind and got a straight red.
Milan hung for an unexpected win, the first half in particular saw Milan being outclassed.