Inter Milan gets better of rivals AC Milan in semifinal first leg
Inter Milan rode early goals by Edin Džeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to top city rival AC Milan 2-0 Wednesday in the first leg of an all-Italian UEFA Champions League semifinal.
Here are three quick takeaways from the match:
Simone Inzaghi's gamble pays off
When the lineups were announced a little more than an hour before kickoff at the iconic San Siro, they revealed two gutsy decisions by Inter Milan manager Inzaghi. On the bench were striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Marcelo Brozović, both usual starters. In their place? Džeko and Mkhitaryan. The former rewarded his boss' hunch when he opened the scoring less than eight minutes in:
The latter doubled Inter's just advantage three minutes later, before the stunned Rossoneri even had time to process what had just happened.
Inter kept pressing, too. Technically the visitors in the stadium the clubs share, Inzaghi clearly had no interest in sitting back. Hakan Çalhanoğlu nearly made it 3-0 before the quarter-hour mark when he rocketed a long-range shot off the post:
AC Milan's stunned players eventually composed themselves and began to push back in front of their home fans in the second half. Bbut Inter — for which Lukaku and Brozović eventually entered off the bench — was content to absorb the pressure with committed team defending while trying to pad their lead on the counterattack.
That the backbreaking third goal never came can be quibbled with. (More on that below.) It doesn't change the fact that Inzaghi got both his personnel and tactical decisions exactly right in this match, or that his squad has a both commanding aggregate lead and a significant psychological edge heading into Tuesday's second leg in front of their own Nerazzurri faithful.
Score doesn't really reflect Inter Milan's dominance
The rest of the stats do a better job. Despite chasing the game for 82 minutes, AC Milan couldn't muster much more than half chances despite controlling the bulk of possession, especially over the final 45 minutes. Inter had five shots on target by the end of the night compared to the hosts' two. Inter had more shots (16-13) overall.
Even that doesn't tell the whole story. The quality of scoring opportunities between the teams wasn't close. Inter caught a break when AC Milan's Rafael Leão was ruled out earlier in the week with an adductor ailment. Another bit of luck arrived in the first half, as Rossoneri defensive midfielder Ismaël Bennacer had to be subbed off with an injury of his own. Truth be told, Inter should've put this one away way earlier.
It would still be inaccurate to suggest that Inter's performance had anything to do with luck. They were the better, sharper, more physical, more determined and cohesive side from start to finish in their third consecutive derby win of 2023. If anything, AC Milan is fortunate to be just 2-0 down.
Inter could still regret leaving AC Milan hanging around
On a night to quickly forget for the second most successful European club of all time, the best news for AC Milan is that the seven-time titlist is somehow still in this two-match, total goals series. A 3-0 first leg deficit would have been all but insurmountable. Coming back from 2-0 is a far more realistic proposition, especially if Stefano Pioli's team can pull one back in the first half of Tuesday's rematch.
Funny things happen in derby matches. Despite being utterly outclassed on Wednesday, next week is a new game and Inter Milan didn't do quite enough to make it a formality. They know it. AC Milan knows it, too. Leg 2 will be fascinating for that reason. Pioli's side has no reason not to take risks and attack from the start. Leão, who was instrumental in AC Milan's quarterfinal triumph over another Italian foe (recently crowned Serie A champ Napoli), could be back.
It's still hard to see Inter squandering its well-earned advantage after Wednesday's highly impressive display. Should it happen, though, Inzaghi and his players will have only themselves to blame.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter at @ByDougMcIntyre.
