The Italian Super Cup: A Milan Derby Final
With a trophy on the line, the Milan teams find themselves in a rematch for the Super Cup for this derby-day final. AC Milan and Inter Milan met at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the final meeting on neutral territory rather than their hometown stadiums. The road to the final was not easy for either of the Milan locals, with both teams facing off with Italian giants like Atalanta and Juventus to make it to the derby-day final. Their last derby face-off ended with AC Milan winning in the match’s final minutes with the score 2-1. Since AC Milan brought in a new coach in hopes of winning the Super Cup and Inter Milan’s incredible season thus far, fans are wondering who can pull through this final.
In the first half, both teams started with incredible opportunities to score. In the fourth minute, AC Milan’s Álvaro Morata barely missed a chance to score, meeting face-to-face with Inter goalie Yann Sommer. Inter Milan immediately counter-attacked in the fifth minute, with Lautaro Martinez heading straight for the goal, but defender Malick Thiaw cleared it, leading to an unsuccessful corner. Both sides tried to score, from Nicolò Barella to Tijjani Reijnders, but with an endless back and forth between the two sides, all could not score against Mike Maignan or Yann Sommer. In the 22nd minute, Federico Dimarco shot a bullet of a goal towards Maignan, but the French goalkeeper barely saved it, keeping AC Milan in the game. Inter Milan finally had their moment when Mehdi Taremi passed the ball to Lautaro Martinez. The Argentinian sent it into the back of the net, dodging multiple defenders and causing Maignan to fumble his save. As the teams head into their locker rooms, Inter Milan felt themselves on a high with the score 1-0 for them.
After their locker room break, Inter Milan was on fire, scoring in the 47th minute thanks to Mehdi Taremi after a perfect pass from Stefan de Vrij. Being down two, Sérgio Conceição took out Alejandro Jiménez to put in the Portuguese wonder Rafael Leão, who immediately made a run for the goal; however, he was tripped by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who earned a yellow card. AC Milan got themselves back in the game in the 52nd minute with a free kick due to the foul by Mkhitaryan. Theo Hernández took the free kick, scoring against Sommer and making the score 2-1. After a tactical foul from Inter Milan by Denzel Dumfries earned him a yellow card that led to an unsuccessful free kick for AC Milan. AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori fouled Lautaro Martinez, the team’s first yellow card in the 57th minute.
In the 71st minute, Inter Milan lost their chance to make the score 3-1, but Carlos Augusto hit the post, ruining his chances of widening the gap. AC Milan immediately countered, but Leão was tripped by Barella, who earned a yellow card, leading to the team’s second unsuccessful free kick. After a beautiful pass in the 80th minute by Hernández, Christian Pulisic tied AC Milan 2-2. Following the tied score, Inter Milan found themselves on the attack with multiple failed attacks saved by Maignan. Amidst all the attacks, Alessandro Bastoni was given a yellow card after tripping Pulisic, who was on the attack in the 89th minute. Five minutes were added to the game. In the 93rd minute, Leão set up Tammy Abraham, who came into the game in the 77th minute, for the winning goal, with a 3-2 win for AC Milan.
AC Milan won the Super Cup, which they haven’t won since 2016, in a come-from-behind victory. Inter Milan’s unsuccessful chances and numerous fouls held them back from the win. Tammy Abraham won Player of the Match for his game-winning goal. AC Milan proudly lifted the trophy in Riyadh, further proving they are the champions of Milan.