It was a dramatic Derby della Madonnina, as Stefan de Vrij’s own goal cancelled out a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, while Ciprian Tatarusanu saved Lautaro Martinez’s spot-kick, with Nicolò Barella and Alexis Saelemaekers going incredibly close.
This was not only a local clash, but also a Scudetto showdown between joint first and third, while Hakan Calhanoglu faced his former club for the first time since crossing the city as a free agent over the summer.
Theo Hernandez was suspended, with Alessio Romagnoli, Mike Maignan, Samu Castillejo, Junior Messias and Alessandro Plizzari injured. Stefano Pioli opted to use Rade Krunic and Brahim Diaz together, dropping Alexis Saelemaekers.
It was a dramatic start to the match, as Franck Kessie intercepted a pass for Edin Dzeko, but then turned into trouble and got into a tangle with Calhanoglu, the referee awarding a penalty, although it wasn’t entirely clear who had bundled into who. Calhanoglu insisted on taking the spot-kick himself, blasting it through the centre and wildly celebrating against his old club in front of the Curva Sud.
Rafael Leao tested Samir Handanovic from distance, then Milan equalised as Sandro Tonali’s free kick was for Fikayo Tomori, but instead Stefan de Vrij got the touch to nod into his own net.
There were dramatic scenes when Fode Ballo-Toure got into a complete mess, not realising where the ball or the man was, lunging in on Matteo Darmian and this time there were no doubts that was a penalty. Lautaro Martinez is the usual Inter spot-kick taker, so he stepped up, but Ciprian Tatarusanu made a sensational save at the near bottom corner.
Leao again stung Handanovic’s gloves, but Ballo-Toure made up for the penalty incident by performing a goal-line clearance to deny Nicolò Barella. Moments later, Lautaro Martinez prodded inches wide after a Dzeko knockdown.
Lautaro Martinez’s strike was deflected over the bar and Calhanoglu’s volley flashed all the way across the face of goal, skimming both the far post and Lautaro Martinez’s foot.
Barella went off with a slight muscular issue and Zlatan Ibrahimovic swung a strike just past the far top corner, while Arturo Vidal had two consecutive attempts charged down by Pierre Kalulu.
Inter began to take more control as the game wore on, but Ibrahimovic blasted a ferocious free kick through the wall and Handanovic had to parry at the near bottom corner.
That sparked a period of Milan pressure, Rebic’s flick on a corner at the near post hit Joaquin Correa’s arm, but it was flush with his body.
Alexis Saelemaekers in the final minute of normal time saw his daisy-cutter bounce off the base of the upright, but Kessie failed to turn in the rebound.
Milan 1-1 Inter
Calhanoglu pen 10 (I), De Vrij og 17 (M)
Saved penalty: Lautaro Martinez 27 (I)