Inter Battles Milan and Grabs it’s Fourth Straight Title
Just after opening a nine-point lead at the pinnacle of Derby della at Madonnina Inter Milan won the Serie A by winning the 270th against their town rivals, AC Milan.
Long before the match coach Carlo Ancelotti of Milan said that he would choose a team capable of competing against Inter’s, he would gather a team with the physical prowess to stifle its opponent’s ability to perform. The coach also noted that his team’s aerial threats would catch his opponents off guard and later added that his team’s defeat was from the result of a technicality as a result of the opening handball to Adriano.
I’m not sure if it was an intentional move or not, but handball seemed very deceptive, he said.
I think we played very well, and I expect for all of us to play like this in the future. It won’t be easy but we’ll give our 100% every time.
Coach Ancelotti concluded: Inter wasn’t the only team who dominated the entire game, because in the first half we were often the better side. Inter made the most of their high balls which were difficult for us to cope with. The title isn’t over, Inter has a lead to hold onto and we’ll be sure to bounce back.
Earlier in the game Milan displayed their ability to play it’s more seasoned rivals, Inter. With one sweeping move after another from Milan, one of its top players, Gianluca Zambrotta ran the field , going from left to right while throwing off his opponents until he finally turned in mid-field, threw the ball in the air, and performed a spectacular bicycle kick that sent the ball hurdling between his rivals. If it weren’t for Inter’s Julio Cesar’s who stepped into take the full brunt of the ball to his arms, Gianluca would have hit a possible goal.
Two minutes before the interval, Dejan Stankovic doubled, and rushed to the home side’s advantage, but then with only twenty minutes remaining Pato gave Rossoneri a few moments of hope as the home side held on to move a step closer to Scudetto.
For the chance to receive an open title race, it was on Milan to attack the Nerazzurri, and Carlo Ancelotti’s side did just that early on. Ronaldinho and Pato battled to create vantage points for the official away team.
Stankovic missed the chance to bring Jose Mourinho’s side ahead in the 18th minute and as he delayed for too long the better chances for a goal began to fall to Inter. During those crowd stopping moments Inter shot, and than was derailed, by Massimo Ambrosini and his save and tackle.
In those 20 minutes Ronaldinho and Pato continued to battle as the defenses of Inter were beginning to unwind, Julio Cesar caught the ball and became overwhelmed with the veracity of his rivals, running he looked to his team mates for support.
As a seasoned professional Ronaldinho was able to win his first Milan derby earlier this season, so it was clear that Pato did not match his accuracy when his shot deflected off Cristian Chivu and into the hands of Julio Cesar.
In the first half of the game David Beckham crossed the ball to Ronaldinho and unfortunately struck a miss-hit volley at the far post.
No matter how many times Milan has dominated the field; their success can not be told in the amount of goals they’ve made, but on the amount of times Inter has proved its might.
In the 29th minute of the game Adriano opened the scoring and diverted Maicon’s pass to Christian Abbiati.
Milan began to slow down, they were beginning to lose the momentum they once had in the beginning of the game. At two goals down Sulley Muntari sent the ball hurdling towards Inter’s penalty area where Zlatan Ibrahimovic repelled and sent the ball to Stankovic. Stankovic didn’t waste a moment’s time when placing a powerful shot that flew past Abbiati.
As Adriano entered all 76,000 fans stood up and cheered for an early win. In the second half Adriano lost his composure when Kakha Kaladze slipped in front of him , which caused Adriano to place his shot too wide and miss the goal and perhaps win the game.
10 minutes into the second half Ancelotti decided to take his chances by replacing Beckham with a third forward, Filippo Inzaghi. But the danger’s continued to mount, Ibrahimovic’s shot was derailed by Abbiati and Adriano who sent the ball over the crossbar and back with a spectacular volley wide.
Paolo Maldini was the only man attributed to preventing Inter from achieving a massive score, as a veteran of 55 derbies, he played with as much vigor as any of his younger team mates; with a determination no fan has seen since his first debut 24 years ago. Paolo Maldini played like a seasoned champion in his final clash against Milan’s great rivals. His skill and constant determination on the field got the better of Ibrahimovic which kept the Rossoneri’s hopes in winning the game alive.
In the 71st minute Marek Jankulovski got to the goal line and pulled the ball back for the expert Brazilian to score his fifth goal in 2009. Inzaghi kicked the ball with as much force as possible. With such a strong kick on that 78th minute the crowd seemed to believe that the ball would go in, as it flew over the grass, volleyed, missed its mark, and struck the roof of the net.
With a nine-point advantage Inter Milan defeated bitter local rivals AC Milan in a thrilling derby at the San Siro and close in on a fourth straight title.
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