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Calling his brother?
The all-nighter begins.
I can’t help but, with my Premier League-focused glasses, notice the presence of two former Manchester United players in Inter’s starting XI. Congratulations to Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Matteo Darmian on escaping Old Trafford to find true happiness elsewhere. Alexis Sánchez didn’t make it off the bench but gets another medal, too.
Not a classic game, but my word what it must be like to witness it all in Milan tonight. That is Inter’s first league title since 2021, when they were a very different side led by the orders of Antonio Conte and goals of Romelu Lukaku. Lautaro Martínez is now the main man up front, though Marcus Thuram stole the show tonight. For the current manager Simone Inzaghi, this is a first league title after three Coppa Italia triumphs: one with Lazio, two with Inter.
A reminder that, aside from the title glory, Inter now have six wins on the bounce against their roommates. Reminds me of my housemate who keeps beating me at tennis. Tough to take.
Well then, this was that Hernández and Dumfries scrap. The Milan full-back basically lost his cool to begin with, and the Dutchman wasn’t having any of it.
FULL-TIME: Milan 1-2 Internazionale (Inter win Serie A!)
Inter are champions of Italy for the 20th time! It ends with 10 against nine, this derby spiralling out of control at the end with some rather bad behaviour. Thuram turns out to be the match-winner, and the San Siro belongs to the men in blue and black tonight.
Red card for Calabria!
90+7 min: Another corner for Milan … but before that there’s an Inter man down by the goalmouth. Ooooh, a red card is shown to Calabria for throwing out an elbow. This is mad at the moment.
90+5 min: A corner for Milan … Maignan goes up for it, but Inter get out of trouble and Mkhitaryan wins a free-kick in his half.
Hernández and Dumfries are sent off!
90+4 min: Inter’s bench are readying themselves for a final-whistle invasion of the field. And, oooh, a scrap breaks out on the pitch. It’s turned into a rugby scrum, and a red card has been shown, but to who? Straight reds for Hernández and Dumfries it seems. And I’m not even sure what led to it …
90+2 min: A yellow for Tomori as he drags back Martínez.
90+1 min: Asslani’s shot for Inter is well wide. We’ve got five minutes added on … Pavard makes a fine challenge at the other end and even manages to win a goalkick with it.
90 min: Ouch! Gabbia launches himself into Martínez, properly slamming him to the ground. Free-kick to Inter out on the left.
89 min: A stop in play as Mkhitaryan recovers from a fall.
88 min: Bastoni is off for De Vrij. There have been a few other subs I’ve missed so forgive me; this is getting rather interesting.
86 min: A Milan flick inside the Inter box fails to finds Giroud, who is up and about trying to win the long punts forward.
84 min: Milan are pressing forward with genuine intent now, so desperate to be the party poopers.
GOAL! Milan 1-2 Internazionale (Tomori 80)
Hold up! Milan work it around the box, Chukwueze delivers one in to it. Leão heads across goal; Gabbia’s header at goal is saved brilliantly by Sommer, but Tomori is there to finally divert the ball in to Inter’s net. Suddenly, this game has just a hint of drama.
79 min: Sommer punches out a cross; Calhanoglu heads one out for a corner.
77 min: Calabria, still a believer, jinks his way into midfield from the right before going down under a foul. A ball into the box from the right finds the head of Giroud … but the cross lacks any power, and the tall Frenchman can’t cause any real havoc with it.
74 min: Pulisic, largely absent tonight, sets himself up for a left-foot smash inside the box after a nifty first touch. But his shot blazes over.
73 min: Dimarco has space out on the left and pings through a ball for Thuram to chase, but it’s too heavy.
71 min: Thuram outmuscles Bennacer to help Inter win a throw out on the right. When the throw comes in he then wins a corner, holding off Tomori and Hernández. He celebrates with a bit of applause, trying to get the crowd going. Serious strength.
68 min: Milan need to make changes; Milan do make some changes. Loftus-Cheek and Adli are off for Bennacer and Chukwueze. Adli breaks something on the sidelines with a swing of the leg; he’s not a particularly happy man at the moment.
66 min: There is very little energy in this game at the moment, the feeling very much as if everyone knows exactly where this is heading.
63 min: Smoke fills the San Siro, hindering my own view of proceedings. Mkhitaryan goes down on the edge of the Milan box after a lovely feint to deceive Loftus-Cheek but is, surprisingly, denied a free-kick.
61 min: Thuram, a continuous nuisance for Milan, is bundled down in his half. He’s been terrific.
58 min: Thuram pulls off a brilliant first touch to pluck the ball out of the air in his half and set up an Inter attack. Martínez crosses from the left, but it’s heavy, beating his strike partner’s run. The move ends with a Calhanoglu shot … but Martínez was offside from before, so it was a futile attempt.
57 min: Thuram, trying get on the end of a cross, takes down Gabbia. That must’ve hurt; the Inter forward is a proper powerhouse.
56 min: The camera pans to a young and tearful Milan fan. Musah wins a corner out on the right for tonight’s hosts.
54 min: The lively Dimarco drifts into the middle from the left before playing the ball to Martínez, who is squeezed away from causing danger by a flock of Milan shirts.
52 min: Giroud enters the game, replacing Reijnders. Just before that, the unbeatable Sommer denied Hernández with another decent stop.
GOAL! Milan 0-2 Internazionale (Thuram 49)
The title will be won tonight. Bastoni punts the ball down the left for Thuram to chase. He gets there, holds it up, and tries to play it to Mkhitaryan, but the ball bobbles back to him. He cuts inside and, with Milan unable to close him down, sends in a low shot past Maignan’s right. Inter are very nearly there.
48 min: Calabria has a bit of space on the right and tries to lace a ball in for Leão to chase, but it’s comfortably intercepted.
46 min: No changes for either side yet, so our man Olivier continues his waiting game.
Peep again!
Inter get things moving again.
I should’ve added, of course, that the goalscorer Acerbi is an ex-Milan man, having spent half a season there over a decade ago.
“Inter have been excellent but Milan,” writes Colum Fordham, “especially the ultra dynamic Leao, have the wherewithal to postpone the celebration of Inter’s inevitable scudetto triumph. And this would be particularly amusing for neutrals (I speak as a fan of Napoli who won it last year). And I’ll be able to rib the odd Neapolitan friend who perversely supports Inter.”
“No one should be allowed to celebrate a title in April, so I’m with the Mee-lan tifosi on this one. I hope they beat Eenter and delay the seemingly inevitable black and blue parade,” writes Peter Oh.
“Stoke City and West Ham United fans will probably want to see Marko Arnautovic make an appearance off the substitutes bench. I’m neither a Potter nor a Hammer but am intrigued by mercurial strikers who have managed to mature with age.”
As am I, Peter. Which is why I wanna see Olivier do his thing for AC.
Not the most thrilling 45 minutes I’ve been a witness to, not that Inter will care. They’ve maintained control, nicked a set-piece goal and hardly been threatened inside their own area. When they have, Sommer has come to the fore. Surely Milan must summon this man …
HALF-TIME: Milan 0-1 Internazionale
Inter are one half of football away from being champions of Italy for the 20th time.
45+1 min: Inter work it brilliantly down the left through Dimarco but when he cuts into the middle he’s met with a thuderous sliding challenge. While he appeals for a foul, Milan counter and Leão is nearly in on goal … until Pavard delivers a delicious tackle of his own.
43 min: That save from Sommer a few minutes ago was a fine reflex effort to deny Calabria, by the way.
40 min: A terrific save from Sommer to his left sets up an Inter break that ends with a stinging Mkhitaryan shot, met by the strong hands of Maignan. For just a brief passage, this thing turned all basketball.
38 min: Very nearly 2-0. Thuram plays the ball to Barella inside the box on the left, who plays it back to the forward in the middle. Thuram tries to find the bottom right corner, and really should, but sends it wide.
37 min: Dimarco fires his shot in to the wall after a layoff from Calhanoglu.
