The title fight in Italy is getting more dramatic! Hero Giroud decides the Milan derby with two goals

Simone Inzaghi, as Inter Milan coach, claimed that the Milan derby would not be the decisive match of the season, but it could have brought a lot of drama to the title fight. And it will. The Derby della Madonnina was dominated by AC, who are now closing the gap on their rivals.

How seriously Simone Inzaghi took his pre-match statement, we will probably never know. But the truth is that Saturday’s Milan derby was very important for the development of the league season. Inter Milan held first place with a four-point lead over Napoli and AC Milan, with a game to spare.

But now everything is different. The Rossoneri managed to beat their city rivals 2-1 and the Nerazzurri now rule the Italian league by a single point. Of course, they still have a game in hand. But it was a great opportunity for at least one of the chasers to bounce back.

The match was going very well for Inter. They entered it as a big favourite, and in the first half they fulfilled this role perfectly. It created chances, AC, thanks to their perfect tactical preparation, could do practically nothing.

In the 38th minute, Ivan Perisic put the Nerazzurri ahead, taking advantage of poor defending from a corner kick. After a great centre from Hakan Calhanoglu, he sent the ball into the net with a floater.

Nothing seemed to change significantly in the second half. From its start, Inter still had AC read. Everything seemed to change in the 58th minute with the arrival of Brahim Díaz , who got the Rossoneri’s game moving, was able to get loose, manage 1vs1 duels, and brought a bit of unease to Inter’s defensive play.

Moreover, Stefano Pioli’s charges started to get into the end zone more often, from the 75th minute onwards the game belonged to them. Olivier Giroud won the ball brilliantly in the midfield and immediately sprinted into the sixteen, which paid off. Díaz’s blocked shot went straight to the French striker, who equalised at 1-1.

Three minutes later Giroud increased the score to 2: 1, after a nice combination action he got the ball into the penalty area, where he beautifully got rid of Stefan de Vrij and shot from the turn, giving no chance to the catching Samir Handanovic.

At the end of the match, the field was still sparking. Theo Hernández was shown a red card, albeit a very harsh one. The important thing for AC, however, is that they managed to keep the lead and did not let Inter do anything in the last minutes.

Source: Serie A