Inter Milan won the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final against Milan 3-0. Goals from Lautaro Martinez and Robin Gosens saw the Nerazzurri through to the final.
The semi-final first leg between the two Milan teams had ended 0-0. In the second leg, Inters coach Simone Inzaghi made three changes from the recent 3-1 defeat in Spezia, replacing d’Ambrosio, Dumfries and Dzeko (all on the bench) with de Vrij, Darmian and Lautaro Martinez. AC coach Stefano Pioli left it at one change in defence after the 2-0 defeat to Genoa last weekend, with captain Calabria starting in place of Gabbia, who was on the bench.
In the Guiseppe Meazza Stadium, Inter got off to the perfect start with Lautaro Martinez justifying his inclusion in the starting eleven in the fourth minute when he volleyed home to make it 1-0 to the Nerazzurri. Milan needed some time to recover from this blow. The first good chance to score was missed by Rafael Leao, whose shot hit the outside of the net (12th).
Lautaro Martinez raises – Milan’s goal doesn’t count
The Rossoneri then had their best phase, in which they created several good chances, after just under half an hour. First Rafael Leao failed again against Handanovic (28.), shortly after Saelemaekers (30.). Tonali also missed (32), and Milan continued to chase the deficit, which increased before the break: Lautaro Martinez overcame Maignan in the Milan goal, this time with a lob and after a beautiful pass from Correa (40).
After the break, the first good chance again belonged to the brace: Lautaro Martinez failed this time to beat Maignan (52.). But then, as in the middle of the first half, Milan became stronger – and was briefly happy about the equaliser. Bennacer’s goal from a corner kick, however, was taken back by referee Maurizio Mariani after studying the TV pictures, as Kalulu had been offside and Handanovic had obstructed his view (66.).
Gosens scores shortly after coming on as a substitute and for the first time for Inter
The disallowed goal put a kink in AC’s play: Milan couldn’t get too much together. Instead, Inter took time off the clock, with Gosens coming on in one of the many changes. The German international had only been on the pitch for three minutes when he scored from close range after a beautiful move via Vidal and Brozovic to make it 3-0 (82nd). It was not only the decisive goal in the Milan city derby, but also Gosens’ first goal in an Inter shirt.
The final of the Coppa Italia will take place on 11 May. Inter will then meet the winner of the second semi-final between Juventus Turin and AC Florence.
In Serie A, the two Milan teams face clubs from the Italian capital this weekend. While Inter hosts AS Roma on Saturday evening (6pm), Milan has one more day to regenerate: the Rossoneri do not host Lazio Roma until Sunday (8.45pm).
