Nine Man Inter Overcome AC in Milan Derby
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Inter win Milan derby despite two sendings off.
Inter Milan tightened their grip on the Serie A title by building a nine point lead at the top of the table after beating local rivals AC Milan 2-0 at the San Siro.
Second placed AC Milan knew a win against their fierce rivals would cut the gap between the top two teams to just three points. However it was the black and blue half of Milan who were the more convincing side, despite going down to nine men.
Early in the game, Inter looked threatening when Wesley Sneijder attempted a dipping volley outside the box which clipped the crossbar and had a chance moments after but shot straight at AC Milan goalkeeper Dida.
In the 10th minute the Nerazzurri took a deserved lead after Inter striker Goran Pandev floated a delightful ball over the top of the AC Milan defence to chase and Diego Milito controlled into the box before arrowing a low shot across Dida into the far corner.
The pattern of the game was set and AC Milan piled bodies forward in the first half with Ronaldinho and David Beckham making their imprint on the game. Inter soaked up the pressure and hit Milan on the counter.
The game took a bizarre twist after 25 minutes when Sneijder was shown a straight red for arguing with the referee and sarcastically clapping him for booking team mate Lucio seconds later for a supposed dive. Inter were down to ten men.
Milan, who play Manchester United in next month’s Champions League clash, brought on Clarence Seedorf and he had a good effort saved from Julio Cesar from a corner. However, Inter doubled the lead on 62 minutes after the impressive Pandev scored from a free-kick. Pandev curled the ball over the Milan wall and into the net. The ten men of Inter had a commanding 2-0 lead.
AC Milan dominated possession for the remainder of the match without threatening and then they won a penalty in injury time. Lucio was sent off for handling a shot that was goal bound, reducing Inter to nine men. Julio Cesar pulled off a great save from Ronaldinho’s spot kick.
Inter held on for the last few seconds to seal a significant win. Chelsea have a tough challenge ahead of them, but Sir Alex Ferguson will not be losing sleep over AC Milan based on the derby performance.
