Lautaro's header sinks AC Milan: the derby goes the Nerazzurri's way!

INTER 1-0 AC MILAN

Scorers: 34' Lautaro (I)

INTER (3-5-2): 24 Onana; 37 Skriniar, 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni; 36 Darmian, 23 Barella (14 Asllani 94'), 20 Calhanoglu (5 Gagliardini 89'), 22 Mkhitaryan (77 Brozovic 71'), 32 Dimarco (8 Gosens 71'); 9 Dzeko (90 Lukaku 71'), 10 Lautaro. Substitutes: 1 Handanovic, 21 Cordaz, 2 Dumfries, 6 De Vrij, 12 Bellanova, 33 D'Ambrosio, 45 Carboni, 46 Zanotti. Coach: Simone Inzaghi.

AC MILAN (3-5-2): 1 Tatarusanu; 20 Kalulu, 24 Kjaer (12 Rebic 86'), 46 Gabbia (28 Thiaw 70'); 2 Calabria (56 Saelemaekers 55'), 30 Messias (10 Diaz 46'), 8 Tonali, 33 Krunic, 19 Hernandez; 27 Origi (17 Leao 55'), 9 Giroud. Substitutes: 77 Vasquez, 83 Mirante, 5 Ballo, 7 Adli, 14 Bakayoko, 32 Pobega, 40 Vranckx, 90 De Ketelaere. Coach: Stefano Pioli.

Bookings: Kalulu (M), Gabbia (M), Leao (M), Mkhitaryan (I), Acerbi (I), Giroud (M), Rebic (M) Stoppage time: 1' - 5'

Referee: Massa. Assistants: Bindoni, Imperiale. Fourth official: Sozza. VAR: Mazzoleni. VAR assistant: Fabbri.

Inter once again, Inter forever. Milano is black and blue. After the Supercoppa victory in Riyadh, another night has gone Inter's way. The choreography that welcomed the Nerazzurri at kick-off was a clear message: let's fight, together, for three important points, for another derby victory. And this is exactly what Inter did. The Nerazzurri dominated and scored in the first half before having two second-half goals ruled out. With the game not over, they had to push hard collectively until the 96th minute, when the referee blew the full-time whistle to send San Siro into raptures. A 1-0 Inter win and a goal from Lautaro, who once again produced a magnificent performance.

Inter started really brightly against an AC Milan side who took to the pitch in a 3-5-2 formation. Early on, the Rossoneri were trapped in their half as they struggled to contain Inzaghi's men, who kept pouring forward at will. Lautaro looked particularly lively and almost opened the scoring in the sixth minute, only for Tatarusanu to deny him with a fine stop. Recoveries high up the pitch, high-quality moves when in possession: the first half saw Inter play some lovely football, and everyone was involved. However, more of a clinical edge was needed. As for AC Milan, they barely got out of their own half, with it seemingly only a matter of time before the Nerazzurri opened the scoring. And this is exactly what they did in the 34th minute as Lautaro headed Calhanoglu's corner into the net via a deflection off Kjaer. It was the seventh derby goal of El Toro's career, and San Siro was bouncing.

AC Milan needed to shake things up, and they did so at the start of the second half as Diaz and then Leao and Saelemaekers entered the fray. But it was Inter who continued to take the game to their opponents, with Lautaro testing Tatarusanu again. Then, it became more of an aggressive battle. The referee handed out bookings as AC Milan tried to get Leao into the game, and Inter were grateful to Acerbi for some great defending on two occasions in particular. Inzaghi's side weren't playing with quite as much precision and certainly no longer having it all their own way. Diaz had a go, but Onana was there to make the save. There was a big Nerazzurri push in the final stages. Lukaku had the ball in the net, but it was chalked off for a foul on Thiaw. Brozovic, on his return to action, kept Inter ticking. Lautaro then scored, but VAR intervened. Five minutes of stoppage time became six, but the Rossoneri weren't posing much of a threat. Instead, it was the Nerazzurri who came closest to scoring again as Tatarusanu kept out Lukaku's effort. The referee blew the final whistle to confirm a big and deserved win; the derby is black and blue!

MATCHDAY 21

Cremonese 0-2 Lecce Roma 2-0 Empoli Sassuolo 1-0 Atalanta Spezia 0-3 Napoli Torino 1-0 Udinese Fiorentina 1-2 Bologna Inter 1-0 AC Milan Verona vs. Lazio, Monday at 18:30 CET Monza vs. Sampdoria, Monday at 20:45 CET Salernitana vs. Juventus, Tuesday at 20:45 CET

TABLE

Napoli 56* Inter 43* Roma 40* Lazio 38 Milan 38* Atalanta 38* Torino 30* Udinese 29* Bologna 29* Empoli 26* Monza 25 Fiorentina 24* Juventus 23 Lecce 23* Sassuolo 23* Salernitana 21 Spezia 18* Hellas Verona 13 Sampdoria 9 Cremonese 8*

* one more game played

LIVE UPDATES

FT: THE DERBY IS OURS!! INTER BEAT AC MILAN 1-0.

95' Lukaku sweetly strikes an effort into the far corner from the edge of the box, but Tatarusanu gets down to his left to parry it behind for a corner.

94' Asllani on for Barella.

90' Five minutes of stoppage time.

89' Lautaro nips in and scores, but it is chalked off by VAR for offside.

89' Calhanoglu is replaced by Gagliardini for Inter.

86' AC Milan make their final sub with Kjaer making way for Rebic.

84' Giroud booked.

83' Lukaku puts the ball into the back of the net, but referee Massa disallows the goal for fould on Thiaw.

81' Lukaku's strength keeps a move alive, setting up Brozovic who lets one rip, but his shot is deflected behind for a corner, which comes to nothing.

78' Giroud's free-kick from 25 yards out clears the wall but goes wide of Onana's post.

71' Triple change from Inzaghi: Brozovic, Gosens and Lukaku are all on for Mkhitaryan, Dimarco and Dzeko.

67' Mkhitaryan booked for protesting. Then, Acerbi is put into the book.

62' Leao booked after catching Barella with an elbow.

55' AC Milan make two other changes: Leao and Saelemaekers come on for Origi and Calabria.

55' CHANCE! Tatarusanu saves from Lautaro's attempt at the near post, after Edin somehow gets his cross into the middle from the corner flag.

54' Lautaro flicks a ball over his head for Dimarco to run onto, but as the ball bounces up nicely his attempt goes wide.

49' Gabbia booked. AC Milan looking for Diaz's fresh legs to conjure up something.

46' Second half gets underway

LIVE UPDATES

45+1' What a great half for the Nerazzurri. 1-0 up and in control.

45' One minute of stoppage time.

44' This time it's Calhanoglu who tries his luck curling in a corner that was heading for the near post. And again, Tatarusanu reads the situation well and punches away.

34' GOOOOOAAAALLLLLLL. 1-0 INTER. Lautaro gets away from his marker and heads home at the near post from Calhanoglu's corner. That's goal number 12 this season for the World Cup winner. Inter take the lead.

32' Kalulu is booked for AC Milan, bringing down Lautaro on the halfway line as Inter were breaking quickly. A bit of gamesmanship there from the French defender.

29' Free-kick: Calhanoglu curls in from 25 yards out but Skriniar can't keep it down and his header flies over the bar.

25' Tatarusanu is alert and punches away a Dimarco corner that was curling straight in at the near post.

19' Dimarco on the left whips a dangerous low ball in across the face of goal, but there's no-one in the six-yard box to poke home. Lovely play from the Italy international.

14' Dzeko seems to have been pushed over in the box by Gabbia, but the referee waves away Inter's call for a penalty.

10' Inter again really close: Skriniar crosses in finding Lautaro, who flicks a header towards goal but it just lands wide with Tatarusanu only able to watch it go by. Inter looking dangerous, but yet to find the opener.

8' INTER CLOSE! Lautaro recovers the ball and sets up Calhanoglu, but his right-footed shot from distance goes over.

6' Tatarusanu sticks out a hand to deny Lautaro. So close!

2' The first effort of the match comes from Lautaro, who fires off target.

1' The derby has kicked off!