not vintage milan tonight in attack but what a performance in defense especially sandro nesta. the one team inter did not want to lose their unbeaten record to!
ps was anyone else amazed how well cristano zannetti played for inter? he is normally hopeless
match report from
www.channel4.com
Inter 0 - 1 Milan
Kaka 74 (M)
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
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Inter's unbeaten run comes to an end as Kaka's lucky strike seals the Derby di Milano and keeps the Rossoneri top of the table
The 259th Derby della Madonnina in all competitions was set to be a decisive moment in the campaign, as Milan needed a win to stay on level terms with Juventus at the top of the table, while anything less than a victory would end Inter's hopes of the Scudetto once and for all.
The Rossoneri were missing Andriy Shevchenko with a fractured cheekbone, Pippo Inzaghi and the suspended Giuseppe Pancaro. They were boosted by the midweek Champions' League victory at Old Trafford and fielded the same Christmas Tree system with Manuel Rui Costa and Kaka supporting ex-Inter star Hernan Crespo.
The most surprising tactical choices were made by Roberto Mancini, who opted to leave Adriano on the bench in favour of Obafemi Martins and Christian Vieri. The Brazilian was without a goal since December 12 and his form since suffering a calf strain has been disappointing.
Inter hadn't won a derby game in Serie A for three years and were without a 'home' victory since April 1997, but they were unbeaten in all competitions so far this season for 20 wins and 20 draws.
Martins was an immediate danger with his pace and exchanged passes with Vieri, but the first save was from Francesco Toldo as Rui Costa charged into the box and saw his angled drive smothered after four minutes.
The young Nigerian was a real danger and a panicked Kakha Kaladze challenge took the ball off his foot as he prepared to shoot, only for it to fall to Vieri and Dida rushed off his line to close it down.
Toldo looked a little uncertain when he punched away a seemingly harmless cross and was fortunate that Andrea Pirlo failed to make the most of it. Kaka tried to break his way through the centre and won a couple of challenges before the defence was able to clear.
Juan Sebastian Veron's long-range strike looped just over the bar, then Dida held a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick. Nesta was kept on his toes by Martins and plucked the ball off his foot after some good work by Vieri.
There was bad news for the Rossoneri when Kaladze, who was celebrating his birthday, seemed to catch his studs in the turf and limped off in favour of Serginho for an all-attack system.
There was a flurry of activity around the Milan area in first half stoppages. First Vieri hooked down a Martins cross and Nesta nodded it off his foot before he could turn, but the ball went out to the edge of the box for a Veron rocket that Dida somehow managed to push over the crossbar. The goalkeeper had precious little time to spot the strike, but he reacted to make an incredible save.
Dida had to be alert following the restart to prevent a Martins cross reaching Vieri after the young hitman had skipped past Nesta.
Another Veron snapshot was just over the bar, then a Mihajlovic free kick took a deflection off Serginho. The match became increasingly tense and a few scuffles and crunching tackles came flying in around the pitch.
Carlo Ancelotti had considered a number of tactical options going into the game and he adapted to the second choice on 65 minutes. Billy Costacurta replaced Rui Costa, so he took the left-back role and pushed Serginho up to support Kaka and Crespo.
Mancini replaced Veron with Turkish international Emre Belozoglu and moments later Milan took a barely deserved lead.
A corner kick was cleared to the edge of the box where Gennaro Gattuso's wayward shot was redirected into the net off Kaka's toe. The Brazilian was not in an offside position because substitute Emre stayed behind to guard the upright and took his time to push out. Kaka has now scored three goals in his four Milan derbies.
This was the spark the match needed and soon after Crespo nodded a Serginho cross over the bar. Vieri's weak effort was smothered by Dida as the San Siro crowd called for the introduction of Adriano.
Emre tried to make up for his earlier error by rolling a low cross for Martins and Costacurta performed a crucial challenge to prevent the simple tap-in.
Adriano finally came on for the final 11 minutes and Massimo Ambrosini replaced Seedorf to give Milan more height. Andy van der Meyde then came on for Cristiano Zanetti, so Inter had three forwards and three attacking midfielders.
There were four minutes of stoppages and Inter poured forward without ever really maintaining their focus enough to damage their opponents.
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Inter: Toldo; J Zanetti, Cordoba, Mihajlovic, Favalli; Veron (Emre 73), C Zanetti (van der Meyde 85), Cambiasso (Adriano 79), Stankovic; Martins, Vieri
Milan: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze (Serginho 37); Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Ambrosini 80); Kaka, Rui Costa (Costacurta 65); Crespo
Ref: De Santis