Milan booked a place in the Coppa Italia final, their second final in four months under Sergio Conceicao, with a 2-0 win in the second leg of their semi-final against rivals and Serie A leaders Inter thanks to a brace from the in-form Luka Jovic.
There was no Marcus Thuram nor Denzel Dumfries available to Simone Inzaghi for tonight’s game. Hakan Calhanoglu was also rested at the beginning, replaced in the starting line-up by Kristjan Asllani. Milan selected Jovic with Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic up front, continuing with their 3-4-3 shape despite the continued absence of Kyle Walker.
You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
The first opportunity of the game fell the way of Matteo Darmian, who had acres of space to run into down Inter’s right flank, and made it all the way to the corner of the six-yard box before dragging his shot slightly wide of the far post.
Federico Dimarco also struck the crossbar after a brilliantly-taken quick free-kick on the halfway line midway through the first 45.
10 minutes later, Lautaro Martinez was presented with an almost identical opportunity to his goal in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, reviving the knock-down from his striker partner in the area, but there was no outside of the boot finish from the Argentine this time. He fired well over.
With what was their first real opportunity of the game, Milan found the breakthrough after a great team move that ended with the ball at Alex Jimenez’s feet on the right flank. He played in the perfect cross for Jovic to slam home a header in the middle of the box.
Jovic would double the Rossoneri five minutes into the second half. Theo Hernandez’s corner was poorly defended – It was a mess in the middle and the Serbian was on hand to stab home from five yards out.
The Rossoneri had chances to put themselves three ahead on the night. Alex Jimenez tried to chip Josep Martinez from the edge of the six-yard box, but was offside, while Leao tried to lay off one of his teammates with a cut-back from a similar position, but nobody was in the middle to poke home.
The Rossoneri needed a big stop from Mike Maignan to protect their two-goal lead after Stefan De Vrij’s goal-bound header following Calhanoglu’s corner midway through the second period.
Just as Milan started to run the clock down, they put the game beyond any doubt. Leao slipped a ball in for Reijnders on the outside, and the Dutchman made no mistake with his first-time finish from the corner of the six-yard box.
Milan are now into their second final in four months after winning the Supercoppa Italiana against Inter in January. They will go on to face either Empoli or Bologna – The Rossoblu have a 3-0 advantage heading into their second leg on Thursday night.
Inter 0-3 Milan
Jovic 36’, 49’, Reijnders 85′.
Player statistic
| 36' |  |
Luka Jovic (Assist: Álex Jiménez) |
| 49' | |
Luka Jovic | ||
| Hakan Calhanoglu |  |
71' | ||
| 85' | |
Tijjani Reijnders (Assist: Rafael Leão) |
Match statistic
CAN WE PLAY YOU EVERY WEEK, CAN WE PLAY YOU EVERY WEEK 😂😂😂
5 derbies, 3 wins and aggregate score of 10-5 😂😂😂
Outcla55ed, outfought, outplayed and comprehensively put back in their box.
Rosario, Outcla55ed, outfought, outplayed and comprehensively put back in their box. but the far better team won. Get back in your box you INTERISTA TROLL!
Rosario, ‘Outcla55ed, outfought, outplayed and comprehensively put back in their box.’ but the far better team won or were you watching a different match mate? Perhaps you need to get back in your box!
The best team won deservedly and Inter and are out of the Coppa Italia!
Sparticus – you need your eyes tested….!
Rosario, your specsavers eye test is clearly overdue. You were watching a different game weren’t you? LOL!
Rosario, clearly your specsavers appointment is well overdue.
You were watching an entirely different game weren’t you?
LOL!