NOS Voetbal•gisteren, 22:01
AC Milan beautifully won the Italian Super Cup for the eighth time at the expense of Internazionale (3-2). The formation of midfielder Tijjani Reijnders came back from a 0-2 deficit after half-time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Under the watchful eye of former star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played for both Internazionale (2006-2009) and AC Milan (2010-2012 and 2020-2023), the blue-black title holder took the lead just before half time thanks to Lautaro Martínez. The Inter striker scored after a beautiful individual action.
The final battle seemed decided at the beginning of the second half with Mehdi Taremi’s 2-0 after a nice deep pass from the solidly playing Stefan de Vrij. But the quick goal from Theo Hernández, who shot a free kick low into the corner, gave Milan hope again.
The revived Milan then created big chances through Christian Pulisic (header), Reijnders (blocked shot) and Álvaro Morata, but Inter keeper Yann Sommer kept his goal clean. The Swiss failed to do so on a diagonal shot by Pulisic, who helped Milan make the comeback.
The final phase remained spectacular, including two chances for Denzel Dumfries on behalf of Inter. The Dutch international was disappointed with his misses, because in the third minute of injury time it was substitute Tammy Abraham who helped Milan win from close range.
Winning the super cup meant a nice introduction for the brand new Milan coach Sérgio Conceição. The Portuguese recently succeeded his dismissed compatriot Paulo Fonseca in Milan.
2025-01-07 00:11:00