Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal as Inter Milan defeated AC Milan to reach the Champions League final (Twitter Image)
Inter Milan defeated AC Milan 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League semifinal second leg, Inter won 3-0 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final
Lautaro Martinez made the difference yet again as Inter Milan defeated AC Milan 1-0 in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal at San Siro on Wednesday, May 17.
Martinez broke the deadlock in the 74th minute after an evenly poised game as Stefano Pioli’s side failed to threaten Simone Inzaghi’s men.
It was an all-action first half in the Derby della Madonnina as Inter sat deep, while AC Milan dominated the possession early on. There were chances aplenty for both sides.
The first chance of the match fell the Rossoneri’s way, Sandro Tonali got close to the byline after Theo Hernandez robbed Nicolo Barella. The midfielder’s cutback reached Brahim Diaz who aimed straight at the goal but his attempt lacked power and Andre Onana made a comfortable save.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, AC Milan should have broken the deadlock through Rafael Leao but the Portuguese fired narrowly wide. The winger who missed the last match through injury, cut in on his left foot beating his marker but fired wide from a narrow angle.
Mike Maignan was forced into a point-blank save shortly before the half-hour mark, Hakan Calhanoglu whipped in a teasing cross from a freekick which was flicked on towards the goal by Edin Dzeko but Maignan reacted just in the nick of time to keep it out.
Henrick Mkhitaryan picked up an injury and was replaced by Marcelo Brozovic shortly before halftime. Into the second half, the Rossoneri continued to pile bodies forward but were kept at bay by the Nerrazurri’s impenetrable defence. Edin Dzeko was replaced by Romelu Lukaku shortly after the hour mark and the Belgian striker laid on the assist for what would prove to be the final nail in the coffin for AC Milan.
Lautaro Martinez scored the winner at San Siro to book Inter Milan’s berth into the Champions League final in Istanbul. The Argentine forward exchanged passes with Lukaku, and just when it appeared that the Nerazzurri had made a melee of a promising attack, the Chelsea Loanee found Martinez who beat Maignan on his near post to break the deadlock.
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While Inter dealt with everything that AC Milan threw at them, Acerbi had a night to remember as he completely overshadowed Olivier Giroud. Martinez meanwhile came close to scoring again, the Argentine World Cup winner attempted to lob the ball over Maignan but the Frenchman recovered to put it out for a corner.
Lukaku also went close right at the death, the Belgian found a pocket of space through Kalulu’s legs but his effort was thwarted by Maignan, and the scoreline remained 1-0 as the final whistle was greeted by a huge roar from the Nerazzurri faithful.
