This was a crucial victory for Milan, who climbed to second and sit just two points behind Roma in the Serie A table.
From the opening whistle, the derby unfolded as a cagey, high-intensity affair between two bitter rivals. Inter began on the front foot, dominating possession 58 to 42 percent and outshooting Milan 10-4. Despite both sides sharing the San Siro, it was the “home” Nerazzurri who carried the early initiative. Yet their finishing repeatedly let them down, with Lautaro Martínez rattling the post midway through the first half on their best chance.
Milan, meanwhile, stayed compact and leaned heavily on Mike Maignan to handle danger. The French goalkeeper’s steady presence kept Milan level - and his distribution sparked the sequence that broke the match open. Alexis Saelemaekers burst down the right and fired at Yann Sommer, whose save spilled directly into the path of Christian Pulisic. The American reacted first and buried the rebound to give Milan a 1-0 lead.
Inter pushed for an equalizer and will regret failing to convert their clearest opportunity minutes later. Strahinja Pavlović brought down Marcus Thuram in the box, handing Inter a penalty. But Hakan Çalhanoğlu telegraphed his effort, and Maignan produced a confident stop in the 71st minute to preserve the lead. Pulisic exited in the 78th minute, and Milan saw out the final stretch to secure a massive result for Max Allegri’s side.
