Inter (3-5-2): Sommer; Acerbi, Darmian, Bastoni (Agosto 84); Dumfries, Mkhitaryan, Barella (Frattesi 84), Calhanoglu, DiMarco; Thuram, Martinez
Milan (4-3-3): Maignan; Kjaer, Thiaw, Calabria, Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek (Florenzi 25), Krunic (Adli 84), Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao
A very tactical start to match starts to wind up when things begin to get physical - Martinez gets booked after only eight minutes for flashing an elbow in retaliation for close play by Thiaw, and then the latter gets his own booking four minutes later for a rough tackle. Matters continue to escalate until, in the 25th minute, Hernandez gets shown a straight red for pulling Martinez down from behind at the edge of the box and Milan are now faced with nearly an hour playing uphill against the reigning title holders in front of their own tifosi. And the rossoneri make a go at it, holding on to the scoreless draw to the halftime whistle; while not creating chances of their own, the defense and Maignan combine to hold Inter at bay. Finally, midway through the second stanza, there is a crack - Inter win a direct free kick just outside the box and Darmian bends it under the bar to beat the Frenchman and open the scoring in the home side's favor.
All hell broke loose at this point. Milan's disciplinary record so far this season has been pretty poor and the bubbling contention with Thiaw and the Inter front line boiled over when the Milan defender was finally shown the red and sent off the pitch in the 73rd minute. (Leao was also shown a yellow for good measure during the ensuing fracas around the referee.) To give Milan some credit, they didn't immediately roll over while two men down, and it looked as if they would snatch some miraculous credit they hardly deserved when Giroud separated himself from Thuram's marking and redirected a Florenzi feed under Sommer for a level score only six minutes from time. But justice was not to be denied in the end as Inter pushed back, and four minutes later Thuram got onto the end of a Dumfries cross and powered a header into the back of the net to put the home side back in front to stay. It was another punchless, and embarrassing - performance for the men in red and black - two corners, one shot on goal and a total of six cards. It's all starting to look a bit shambolic and, after yet another Derby della Madonnina defeat, Pioli is best advised not to read La Gazzetta in the morning. [scoresheet]
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