"It seemed obvious, but the derby is rarely so"
That was how Corriere della Sera starts its analysis of Inter - Milan today, focusing on the Milan derby held last night at San Siro which ended 2-1 in favour of Paulo Fonseca's team.
The Rossoneri who were on the brink of sinking, delivered its best performance of the season and knocked their cousins from Inter to the canvas. The match was decided in the final moments by Matteo Gabbia, one of Fonseca's winning moves, who chose him over Strahinja Pavlović.
According to the Italian newspaper, Inter deserved to lose. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer, the best player for the Nerazzurri, had kept his team in the game with three stunning saves before finally capitulating at the end.
This was the first defeat in the league for Simone Inzaghi's side, who, perhaps fatigued after their Champions League efforts against Manchester City, will now be forced to take a good dose of humility.
It is evident that things are not going as smoothly for Inter this year. In the derby against Milan, in particular, the midfield contributed little, and the goal-scoring duo of Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram was more than underwhelming.
"A team that has regressed, lacking backbone, suffocated by the pressing and dynamism of the hungry Rossoneri" was the newspaper's comment on Inter's performance. They were thus forced to stop at six consecutive derby victories: Milan has emerged from the tunnel it was sinking into and can now draw important technical and psychological insights from this significant victory for the continuation of the league and the season in general.
Paulo Fonseca's moves paid off
Fonseca's tactic saw Álvaro Morata deployed as a trequartista behind Tammy Abraham. That move proved effective. The Spaniard skillfully moved into spaces and linked play well. Overall, however, the Rossoneri appeared different: Compact, reactive, dynamic. They opened the scoring with Christian Pulisic, then suffered, conceding an equaliser to Federico Dimarco. After a balanced first half, they performed much better in the second.
Those hoping for Inter's resurgence were disappointed: in the derby, it was only Milan on the field.
"Brave, energetic, gritty." Sommer was outstanding against Rafael Leão on a couple of occasions and against Abraham.
The same forwards squandered two almost certain goals. In the end, however, justice was served with Gabbia's relentless header that sent the Rossoneri to 'Paradise' after two years
