Milan defeat Inter 2-1 in the 226th Derby di Milano

The Milan derby is more than a century old and is one of the most heated rivalries in Italian football. On Saturday night, AC Milan managed to take all three points off their city rivals, with the scoreline reading 2-1 in favour of the Rossoneri at full time. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring early as he won a penalty and took it himself. Despite Handanovic going the right way, the 39-year-old managed to give Milan the lead 13 minutes into the game as he scored from the rebound. 

Only 3 minutes later, the Swede struck again, converting a wonderful cross by Rafael Leao from the left flank to make it 0-2. 

Close to the half-hour mark, Romelu Lukaku managed to pull one back from Inter as he tapped in a brilliant low cross by Ivan Perisic from the left-wing, leaving no chance for Donnarumma to make a save. 

The Nerazzurri had multiple chances to equalize but did not manage to convert any of them. After a physical, competitive 90 minutes, it was AC Milan who won their fourth game in a row this season and achieved their first win against Inter since January 2016. 

Saturday’s match at the San Siro was the 226th Derby di Milano across all official competitions. The head to head record stands at 82-77 to Inter, with the rest of the matches ending in a draw. 

In Italy, the fixture is known as the Derby della Maddonnina because of the statue of Virgin Mary on the Duomo, which happens to be one of the most famous and historic sites of the city. 

The first time the two neighbours faced each other was all the way back in 1909, with Milan getting the win over Inter. While AC Milan have achieved tremendous European success with 7 Champions League trophies to their name, both the clubs are tied in terms of Serie A titles, with 18 apiece. 

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