After 73 minutes plus a VAR assessment, Inter at last got their chance in the Milan derby. Match official Simone Sozza awarded the spot when video footage showed Pavlovic treading on Thuram's foot within the box. Now all that remained was for Calhanoglu to convert and make the score 1-1.
A routine task. Since arriving Italy's top division, the Turkish skipper had been practically automatic from the penalty spot – scoring 27 from 28 penalties taken for Inter, and three from three for Milan previously. Entire press articles and late-night TV broadcasts were dedicated to analysing his infallibility, before he eventually smacked one against a post during a draw at home to Napoli last year.
Despite that, not a single keeper had previously stopped him. By now they were aware of his preferred place to aim, the bottom left from his perspective, and still that was insufficient to keep his shots out. The Inter midfielder hit the ball with such precision into the corners that most just were unable to reach it from the center of the goal. Should you leaned across, he would switch direction.
Mike Maignan's Bold Tactic
During Sunday's match, Milan's goalkeeper adopted a different approach. Instead of positioning himself nearer where he anticipated the penalty taker to shoot, he opted for the reverse, positioning himself a full stride over to the other side of the goal – his left, the Inter player’s right.
It felt like a dare. The French keeper was signaling to Calhanoglu to attempt his preferred placement and even giving a head start. You'd better put it precisely in the corner, however, because it's obvious that’s where it’s going, and I’m going to dive for it fast.’
Perhaps he was trying to put the memory of that miss against Napoli in the Inter player’s head. It occurred right here, at the same end of San Siro – underneath the Curva Nord. Surprisingly, it also happened in the same minute of that game.
This time the Inter star sent his shot toward goal. The Milan keeper, launching himself down, got a strong hand to it and kept it out.
Unprecedented Stop
For the first time in a decade of domestic Italian football, Calhanoglu had met his match from the 12-yard mark. Should any goalkeeper was going to do it, it was fitting that it would be Maignan on a evening like this, when he had already made several brilliant saves. On the Dazn TV studio, Italy’s greatest-ever keeper, Gianluigi Buffon, purred. “I would have taken the identical stance Maignan did,” he said. “But I am not sure if I would have been able to pull off the save!”
Inter ought not to have been behind in the first place. They had attempted over double the attempts on goal as Milan, and of a higher quality, too. There was a header by Thuram, tipped away by Maignan at full stretch. A jumping one from a corner by Acerbi that crashed off the crossbar. A half-volley by Lautaro Martínez that the goalkeeper somehow pushed on to the frame.
They assailed from every direction in a opening period barrage: far post, front post, right in the middle of that cursed penalty area. The Milan shot-stopper had them all handled.
If there was an image to sum up the experience, it could have been Lautaro Martínez, responding to his shot being saved with a glance back at the keeper and arms spread in a gesture of tired frustration. The look of a man who had just had his paperwork rejected again by some tireless bureaucrat, despite filling in every section as carefully as he could. Back of the line, sir. You've taken your turn.
AC Milan's Efficient Display
Milan, on the other hand, were a model of efficiency. They had hardly threatened Inter’s goal before Youssouf Fofana won back a couple of midfield challenges to launch them from the center in the 54th minute, striding forward and passing the ball to Saelemaekers, who slipped as he fired across goal from the right side of the D. Yann Sommer pushed his shot away, but not sufficiently. Pulisic swept the loose ball into the net.
A smash and grab? Perhaps. But a gameplan devised and carried out perfectly. This is how Massimiliano Allegri has organized his teams up in big games for a long time: tight, cautious, patient. Occasionally excessively so – just ask the Juventus fans who delighted in the manager’s departure at the end of his latest stint. The Bianconeri had become a extremely tedious watch. Of course, he did sign off by securing a trophy.
After scoring, Milan defended deeply, starving Inter of those shooting opportunities from the first half. Pavlovic’s foul offered them a way back in. The keeper's brilliance denied it.
Full-Time Whistle and Reaction
As the full-time whistle sounded, confirming Milan’s 1-0 win, it hardly felt like an upset. Certainly, Inter had held more of the ball and generated superior chances, but they achieve that in nearly all game. They also fail to win, consistently, against their arch-rivals.
The Nerazzurri ended a significant margin ahead of Milan the previous campaign yet were defeated to them on three occasions and tied their other two games across the league, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa. While Milan’s win this Sunday did look like a classic Allegri performance, it was the continuation of a pattern that has since persisted through a combined three separate managerial changes between the two clubs.
It was not always thus. For a decade from 2012 until the end of 2021, Inter controlled the derby – beaten only on four occasions in total, and including one in extra time. This is a strange irony that this tendency should be broken in a period when there is general consensus that they possess the strongest squad in Serie A.
Wider Concerns for Inter
For Inter, though, the problem is not just games against Milan. Losses in the so-called direct clashes – head-to-heads against clubs with similar standing and expectations – have become a troubling theme. Across the previous season and this, they have secured victory in just two out of 12 league games, falling short in six matches, against Napoli, Juventus, Roma and Milan.
Christian Chivu is responsible for only four of these, since taking over from Inzaghi in the summer. Nevertheless, he sought no excuses or claims to misfortune at full time. Asked if he could name any positives from this defeat, he responded that the hectic calendar gave them a opportunity to move on quickly against Atlético Madrid in 72 hours.
The worry for Inter will be what impact a further loss there might have on team spirit. The scramble for someone to blame has already begun, with Sommer receiving much criticism.
Goalkeeper Situations
Inter will have to resolve the goalkeeping situation at some point. Sommer is thirty-six, and although it remains unjust to hold responsible him for every his team’s failings, his standards have declined over the last couple of seasons.
On the other hand, the same could apply to Milan. Maignan’s contract will run out at the end of this season. He, too has been below his best at times in the last couple of seasons – fitness issues and managerial upheaval have played their part – but this performance served as another demonstration that he can be one of the best in the world.
Championship Battle and Prospects
Capable enough to assist Milan
