Author – Amrit Santlani
Serie A giants Inter Milan and AC Milan met in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 semi-final at the San Siro Stadium on Wednesday evening. Inter triumphed 2-0 over their arch-rivals AC Milan thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the first half. Stefano Pioli’s side put in a disastrous defensive performance as they were beaten in the first half by a lively Inter side that could have scored at least three or four goals in the first quarter. After the break, Milan tried to attack, but only managed to hit the post; that was as close as Pioli’s side came in their attempt to trouble Inter.
Simone Inzaghi’s side had beaten their San Siro rivals in recent Serie A matches and also in the Italian Super Cup. This was evident in the way Inter’s players started the match, and it took them just eight minutes to open the scoring.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu took a corner into the box, which Dzeko deflected into the back of the net with a volley, giving goalkeeper Mike Maignan no chance. Davide Calabria was at fault as he failed to mark Dzeko correctly, and the former AS Roma striker gave his side the lead with a left-footed finish.
While Pioli’s men were still recovering from the deficit, they suddenly found themselves two goals down. Federico Dimarco crossed for Mkhitaryan, and the Armenian dodged Sandro Tonali’s challenge to get in on goal and double Inter’s lead. Milan were caught by surprise once again and could have been three goals down if Çalhanoğlu’s shot hadn’t hit the post, while Maignan made a smart save to prevent Mkhitaryan from scoring.
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Ismaël Bennacer then suffered a knock and was replaced by Brazilian striker Junior Messias. Thirty minutes into the second half, there was a cry for a penalty when Lautaro Martinez was brought down in the box by Simon Kjær. After a VAR review, the referee changed his mind and the Milan players breathed a sigh of relief. In the second half, Pioli’s half-time talk had an effect and the team started to do a little better. Brahim Diaz’s shot went narrowly wide of André Onana’s goal, before Maignan saved his side with another smart save from Dzeko.
Diaz then combined with Olivier Giroud, who passed to Tonali, but the Italian midfielder could only hit the post with his shot from near the edge of the box. That was the last big chance of the night as the match ended 0-2, with Milan having a mountain to climb in the second leg. Messias came on in the first half, but failed to make an impact on the game.
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“We played a brilliant first half, but it’s a tight scoreline for what we did on the pitch. It’s an extremely positive evening, which gives us a lot of satisfaction, but we’re missing one more piece to achieve a dream we’ve believed in since August” said Inzaghi after Inter’s victory.
“I found it bizarre that Milan were so passive. Inter could have stayed out of sight. The best thing Milan can take from tonight’s performance is that the scoreline was only 2-0. Defensively, they were everywhere“said former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch on BT Sport.