Rafael Leao scored two and provided an assist for Olivier Giroud, as Milan fought back to beat Inter in an absolutely thrilling 3-2 Derby della Madonnina, with Mike Maignan decisive.

The Scudetto race picked up where it left off last season, but Romelu Lukaku was injured, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alessandro Florenzi, Ante Rebic and Rade Krunic out for the Rossoneri. It was also the first match since RedBird completed the Milan takeover and their representatives were in the stands.

Watch the highlights here.

Alessandro Bastoni risked an own goal with his header off the bar from Rafael Leao’s cross, but it wouldn’t have counted, as he was pushed by Olivier Giroud.

Samir Handanovic got down moments later to palm away a Leao strike at full stretch, but Inter scored with their first real attack.

Lautaro Martinez flicked it on with his back to goal and Tucu Correa immediately swept it through the middle of the Milan defence, where Marcelo Brozovic kept his cool to beat Mike Maignan one-on-one. It was the Croatian’s third goal in the Derby della Madonnina.

Giroud turned just wide and for the equaliser Sandro Tonali pounced on a loose Hakan Calhanoglu pass in midfield, setting up Leao to score with a ferocious first-time left-foot swoop that bent back Samir Handanovic’s hand from a tricky angle. He held up injured teammate Florenzi’s shirt after the goal and celebrated his own 100th Serie A appearance with the first derby strike.

The Rossoneri seemed more fired up, as Giroud turned wide on the half-volley, Tonali scuffed his finish straight at Handanovic, Theo Hernandez blasted inches over and De Ketelaere’s free header was just wide, all in the space of a couple of minutes.

Fikayo Tomori made a sliding block on Lautaro Martinez inside the box and Theo Hernandez nodded a Tonali free kick just wide.

Milan turned it around completely when a throw-in found Leao, who pulled it back from the left for Giroud to turn first-time with more precision than power with his left foot into the far bottom corner.

The pair combined again for 3-1, this time Giroud knocked down a long ball for Leao, who with a cheeky shimmy dribbled away between three defenders to sweep into the far bottom corner from a tight angle.

It still wasn’t over, as Simone Inzaghi’s substitutes made an immediate impact, within minutes Henrikh Mkhitaryan had pulled across from the left for Edin Dzeko to turn in off the inside of the near post from six yards.

Inter suddenly found another gear and Maignan had to palm away a Lautaro Martinez header into the ground that bounced right in front of him.

Maignan also used his legs to deny Dzeko, then flew to palm Calhanoglu’s screamer out of the top corner with one hand, while Divock Origi squirmed between three players only to fire over.

Deep into stoppages, Mkhitaryan hit a clean volley that flashed wide of the far post.

Milan 3-2 Inter

Brozovic 21 (I), Leao 28, 60 (M), Giroud 54 (M), Dzeko 67 (I)

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