During the derby, surprisingly, notes James Horncastle for The Athletic, Milan rose to the occasion and hit new heights under head coach Paulo Fonseca.
"Amid scrutiny of his position, Fonseca daringly started Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata in a 4-4-2. He was prepared to go down fighting if losing this game meant losing his job. It paid off. Christian Pulisic, the first American to score in the Madonnina, played angry and found the net for a fourth consecutive game for club and country. Rather than capitulate when Inter equalised as they did against Liverpool in midweek, Milan came out for the second half and put in their best, most determined performance of the season. That goalkeeper Yann Sommer was Inter’s best player said it all. He kept his team in the game with fine saves from Rafa Leao and Tammy Abraham but could do nothing to stop Matteo Gabbia from heading in a free-kick placed perfectly in front of him by the superb Tijjani Reijnders."
Fonseca was hired to reverse the negative trend in the derby.
While Inter at times looked jaded after their acclaimed exertions away to Man City in midweek, Milan deserved their win, which couldn’t always be said of recent famous victories in this fixture such as when Olivier Giroud famously turned and launched a comeback against the run of play in 2022.
Milan finally have lift off, concludes James Horncastle.
Milan are now equal with Inter as both parties are on eight points in the Serie A stands. The Rossoneri must build on the victory and continue working to keep collecting victories.
