Player Ratings and Match Highlights

Matteo Gabbia procured a moment he will never soon forget in the infamous Milan derby, rising high to head home a dramatic winner in the games final few moments to take the spoils for his boyhood club, after Christian Pulisic and Federico Dimarco had found the net previously on the night.

The fierce derby got off to a ripping start, and it came by way of a moment of magic from USMNT winger Christian Pulisic, who picked the pocket of fellow ex-Premier League man Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the midfield before driving beyond several challenges and rolling the ball beyond Yann Sommer to open the scoring for Milan, setting the red corner of the San Siro alight with passion.

Inter would continue to plug away at the Milan net, with the likes of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram seeing big opportunities kept out by Mike Maignan, and they would manage to get their get-back before the opening half closed. It was wide man Federico Dimarco who would get the parity-restoring effort attached to his name, picking up possession from a tightening angle on the left of the box before arrowing a fierce, low effort into the bottom far corner, beating Maignan with a shot of pace and power as the scores were leveled.

Milan initially believed, in the second half, that they were to receive a huge opportunity to get themselves back into the ascendancy after Lautaro Martinez was deemed guilty of handball in the area, but a quick VAR check instead revealed that the ball had hit him on the shoulder instead. In the meantime, big chances started to flow mainly toward the Inter goal, with Tammy Abraham pushing a huge chance wide of the far corner after being slipped in behind superbly by Tijjani Reijnders.

There would still be time for a dramatic twist to the San Siro tale, and it was a man of their own cloth in Matteo Gabbia who made the final impact with a bullet header. A beautiful ball in from Reijnders found the Milan fan in the area, and, in the stadium he spent his childhood cheering on his heroes, he rose highest to the mark to send a powerful strike off of his head past a helpless Yann Sommer to make it 2-1 with minutes to spare.

Inter came back at AC with what they could muster, but the damage had been done already as the red corner of Milan took the share of the spoils.

Match Highlights to follow..

But this is how Gabbia won it for his boyhood club

Inter Player Ratings

Yann Sommer – 9/10

Made a few strong saves throughout the contest to keep Milan at an arm’s length, including a stunning one halfway through the second half to deny Reijnders.

Alessandro Bastoni – 7/10

Hugely successful in his battles, and displayed an air of proficiency going forward as the left-most centre-back as well.

Francesco Acerbi – 6/10

Successful in the vast majority of his duels, and battled diligently against the threat of Leao.

Benjamin Pavard – 6/10

Was one of several shrugged off by Pulisic on his way through to scoring, but improved as the game went on with some fine interventions.

Federico Dimarco – 8/10

Applied his standard dose of energy and effort into the game as Inter sought a leveller, and provided it himself with a ripping, low drive.

Denzel Dumfries – 5/10

Didn’t have much success in his individual battles, and found little joy on the overlap as well.

Hakan Calhanoglou – 7/10

Displayed some excellent long-range passes, and kept Inter ticking over well for the most of his stay. Kept Milan on their toes with his set-piece abilities.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5/10

Gave the ball away cheaply to Pulisic on the way to his opening strike. Didn’t find much success in the majority of his duels either.

Nicolo Barella – 6/10

Displayed some fantastic long-range passes, some of them leading to big chances for Inter, but didn’t land much success in his duels at all.

Lautaro Martinez – 7/10

Showed great endeavour on a half-chance, refusing to give up on a loose ball on his way to rolling it over to Dimarco to strike Inter level.

Marcus Thuram – 5/10

Hardly got on the ball at any real point during the game. Was there for a dose of strength and pace, but was largely able to be ignored.

Sub – Matteo Darmian – 5/10

Showed some proficiency down the right-hand side, and settled into the game nicely for the most part, but was guilty of sending a free header in the games final few minutes miles over the bar.

Sub – Davide Frattesi – 6/10

Didn’t get on the ball in his his half-hour spell from the bench as he may have expected, but displayed some aptitude when jostling for possession.

Sub – Kristjan Asllani – 7/10

Put on a great display in the Inter midfield, supplying several impressive passes forward and adding a vital energy to their game.

Sub – Piotr Zielinski – 6/10

Was successful with the majority of his passes, but otherwise could not impact the game too heavily.

Sub – Carlos Augusto – N/A

Was not able to make an impact in the little time he had.

Milan Player Ratings

Mike Maignan – 7/10

A good showing for both keepers tonight, with Maignan also pulling out some fine stops to keep his side in the game throughout.

Emerson Royal – 8/10

Found plenty of joy when overlapping down the right flank, picking out some great areas with a few very nice crosses.

Fikayo Tomori – 7/10

Battled with full-blown spirit in the heart of the Milan backline, keeping Inter away with countless big interventions.

Matteo Gabbia – 8/10

Kept plenty busy at times, and pulled off some fine actions to cope with the pressure, including one exceptional sliding challenge to dismiss a big chance for Dimarco. Found the back of the net in the final few moments of regular time to seal a famous winner for Milan, in what would have been an incredible moment for the boyhood Milan fan.

Theo Hernandez – 8/10

Was incredibly active for the entirety of the game, winning duel after duel and finding plenty of space to work with on the overlapping left. Brought his standard brand of energy and athleticism to the table, and worked dilligently as Milan found their way to a winner.

Tijjani Reijnders – 9/10

Pulled out some stunning solo drives from the midfield, and complemented Fofana very well with great defensive endeavour. Slipped some very clever balls through the Inter lines as well, one of which for Abraham that should have been converted.

Youssouf Fofana – 7/10

Battled immensely in the midfield, breaking up play at several vital moments and winning 100% of his duels.

Christian Pulisic – 8/10

Right up for the game from the very outset, pulling out several impressive solo runs and carving chances out, one of which being taken by himself following a brilliant burst for 1-0.

Rafael Leao – 6/10

Quiet performance from Leao in the opening hour, save for a mighty header that was clawed away superbly by Sommer.

Alvaro Morata – 7/10

Sat slightly deeper than Abraham, and displayed some solid linkup play and defensive proficiency.

Tammy Abraham – 5/10

Didn’t have many opportunities to make an impact on the game, and missed a huge chance in the final 15, smashing one wide after being put through by Reijnders. Looked impacted by a sore challenge to his ankle from Yann Sommer.

Sub – Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 6/10

Found space to work with on a few occasions with some powerful drives, but didn’t have time on his side in search of an impact.

Sub – Noah Okafor – 4/10

Found one or two opportunities to make Inter sweat, but couldn’t enchant the ball in his attempts. Had an even bigger chance to add a third at the end, but sent it spilling over the bar.

Sub – Samuel Chukwueze – 4/10

Didn’t have time to make a great deal of a difference, but should have been able to regardless when bearing down on goal with the ball, but losing it instead of picking out a wide-open Tammy Abraham.

Man of the Match – Tijjani Reijnders

A brilliant performance from the Milan midfielder, picking out his forward counterparts on several occasions with some impressive passes, including a delicious free-kick to find Gabbia in the final embers of regular time, which ultimately won the day for his side.

There were several strong showings through both ranks of San Siro combatants, with further shoutouts neccesary for Gabbia himself and Yann Sommer in the opposing goal, but Reijnders is our Man of the Match this evening.