Serie A | Inter 1-2 Milan: Giroud and Maignan seal dramatic derby comeback

Inter dominated the first half and were denied by Mike Maignan heroics, as Olivier Giroud scored twice in four minutes to give Milan a surprise Derby della Madonnina victory, blowing the Scudetto race wide open.

Watch the highlights here.

Serie A Highlights: Inter 1-2 Milan

The Nerazzurri were four points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand, so this was a huge Scudetto showdown as well as the derby. Joaquin Correa and Robin Gosens were injured, with Hakan Calhanoglu scoring against his former club when they drew 1-1 on November 7. The Rossoneri missed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ante Rebic, Simon Kjaer and Fode Ballo-Toure, with Fikayo Tomori only fit for the bench, so it was Olivier Giroud’s first Milan Derby.

Denzel Dumfries had the ball in the net after 10 minutes with a towering header, but it was disallowed because Ivan Perisic was offside for the cross.

Moments later, Mike Maignan had to readjust mid-air for a spectacular reaction save on the Marcelo Brozovic strike after a huge deflection off Pierre Kalulu.

Nicolò Barella drilled wide through Ismael Bennacer’s legs, then Maignan had to make another sensational save one-on-one with Dumfries after an Alexis Saelemaekers defensive error.

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Pierre Kalulu bravely charged down an Edin Dzeko volley with his face, but Milan finally woke up on 35 minutes. Sandro Tonali’s scorcher was palmed away by Samir Handanovic’s trailing hand, then Rafael Leao was blocked on the rebound.

Lautaro Martinez stung Maignan’s gloves and on the resulting Hakan Calhanoglu corner, Perisic was left in too much space for a cushioned volley off the inside of the left boot from 12 yards.

Maignan had to come flying outside the penalty area for a sliding tackle on Calhanoglu, as Inter countered from a Milan corner.

The Rossoneri took the initiative after the break, but struggled to create clear-cut chances, Leao firing over from a Brahim Diaz assist.

If anything, Perisic turned another volley off target from a corner, but Milan equalised on 75 minutes.

Giroud won it back off Alexis Sanchez with a meaty challenge, Tonali spread for Brahim Diaz, whose deflected shot was turned in at the back post by Giroud. Inter wanted a free kick for that tackle, but the referee and VAR waved play on.

The game turned around completely a few minutes later, Giroud with his back to goal spinning Stefan de Vrij on a Davide Calabria through ball and the finish squirming under Handanovic’s hand into the far bottom corner.

Theo Hernandez nonetheless lost his mind in stoppages, receiving a straight red card for a ridiculous tackle from behind on Dumfries.

Inter 1-2 Milan

Perisic 38 (I), Giroud 75, 78 (M)

Sent off: Theo Hernandez 95 (M)