AC Milan 3-1 Inter: Early Rossoneri surge decides the derby

Match overview

AC Milan claimed a 3-1 derby win over Inter at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Serie A, building a decisive two-goal lead inside the opening 10 minutes and restoring their advantage before the interval.

The scoreline was settled in the first half. Milan struck through Christian Pulisic in the fourth minute, Adrien Rabiot in the 10th and Diego Moreira from a free-kick in the 43rd. Alessandro Bastoni had briefly brought Inter back into the contest with a 22nd-minute header.

Inter produced the larger volume of attacking statistics, but Milan converted three of their four shots on target and protected the lead through a goalless second half.

A decisive opening

Milan made an immediate impact. Pulisic opened the scoring with a header after four minutes, with Moreira credited with the assist. Six minutes later, Moreira again supplied the final pass as Rabiot made it 2-0 with a left-footed finish.

Inter’s response arrived in the 22nd minute. Bastoni headed in, with Manuel Akanji credited with the assist, to reduce the deficit to 2-1. The goal gave Inter a route back, but Milan delivered the final first-half moment: Moreira scored directly from a free-kick in the 43rd minute to re-establish a two-goal margin.

That sequence also defined Moreira’s match. He was involved in all three Milan goals, providing two assists before scoring himself, and was named Player of the Match with a rating of 8.43.

Pressure without a second goal

The second half brought no further scoring. Inter had more possession, 57% to Milan’s 43%, and recorded 110 attacks compared with 79. They also led in dangerous attacks, 64 to 21, corners, 11 to 3, and total shots, 19 to 7.

The shooting figures underline the contrast between Inter’s pressure and Milan’s finishing. Inter placed eight shots on target and created four big chances, but missed three of them. Milan had four shots on target from seven attempts and scored three times. Mike Maignan made seven saves, the highest-rated Milan player after Moreira with an 8.08 rating.

Inter also completed more passes, 460 to 357, from 525 attempted passes against Milan’s 407. Both teams finished with an 88% successful-pass rate. Milan, however, completed 29 successful long passes to Inter’s 15 and made 11 interceptions compared with eight.

Late changes and a VAR moment

Inter made five substitutions, beginning with the introductions of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Piotr Zielinski in the 72nd minute. A penalty awarded in Inter’s favour was subsequently cancelled by VAR in the 75th minute. Milan also used all five of their substitutions, with Pulisic replaced by Alphadjo Cissè in the 82nd minute and Moreira making way for Omari Hutchinson in the 89th.

The match ended with two Milan yellow cards—Koni De Winter for a foul and Moreira for dissent—and one for Inter, shown to Carlos Augusto for a foul.

The defining difference

Inter accumulated more territory, possession, corners, shots and big chances, but Milan’s first-half scoring made the difference. The hosts were ahead 2-0 after 10 minutes, answered Bastoni’s response with Moreira’s free-kick, and then saw out the second half without conceding again.

For Milan, the derby belonged to Moreira’s decisive contribution and Maignan’s seven saves. For Inter, the numbers showed sustained attacking output, yet the final score remained 3-1.