Inter Milan 2-0 AC Milan: 5 Players who were brilliant for the Nerazzurri
Inter Milan and AC Milan locked horns on Saturday night for the 224th Derby della Madonnina. The two teams had experienced opposing fortunes of late, yet their rivalry had remained intact.
The Rossoneri endured a difficult start to the new season when they were beaten by Udinese in the opening game. Since then, though, Milan has managed to string together a run of two wins in two and has also managed to keep clean sheets in both the fixtures.
Inter Milan, on the other hand, was the only team in Serie A with a 100% record before Matchday 4, having won each of their first three games. The Nerazzurri had made a few important additions over the summer, including the arrival of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez from Manchester United. Antonio Conte had taken over the reins in the summer and fans were bubbling with expectations already.
Inter Milan Starting XI: Samir Handanović; Diego Godin, Milan Škriniar, Stefan de Vrij; Stefano Sensi, Nicolò Barella, Marcelo Brozović, Kwadwo Asamoah, Danilo D'Ambrosio; Lautaro Martínez, Romelu Lukaku.
Inter Milan looked the better side in the first half, where they came close to scoring on a couple of occasions, while AC Milan tried to catch the Nerazzurri on the break. The first half ended 0-0. After the break, Marcelo Brozovic put Inter forward after a well-taken goal. Lukaku then doubled the lead, helping Inter to a 2-0 victory. Here are the five players who were brilliant for Antonio Conte and helped Inter win the game.
#5 Lautaro Martinez
Lautaro Martinez started alongside Romelu Lukaku in a two-man attack and looked lively right from kick-off. He was a constant threat near the box, running at the defenders and drawing tackles from the opposition. His movement and trickery subsequently won his team free-kicks in dangerous positions.
The Argentinean also combined well with Lukaku and even sent the Belgian clear on goal on one occasion, however, the former Manchester United striker failed to score.
Martinez also produced a good save from Donnarumma in the 21st minute after picking up a pass from Sensi.
He then squandered an easy chance to score from a D’Ambrosio cross, but replays showed that the Argentinean was offside. Martinez even had the ball at the back of the net in the 35th minute, but it was disallowed because he was offside, again.
The Argentinean continued to stretch the opposition defence before he was replaced by Politano in the 76th minute.