At the end of a night that promised much between teams that share 10 European titles, Simone Inzaghi patted Edin Dzeko, whose smile lit up the hulking San Siro. Soon after, the television cameras caught Henrik Mkhitaryan hooded in black. Together, Dzeko and Mkhitaryan, once on different sides of Manchester, had put Inter one step, according to their manager Inzaghi, away from the Champions League final.
Deflating the Derby della Madonnina for AC Milan were eighth and 11th minute goals from Dzeko and Mkhitaryan. In those three minutes, as the television commentators said, you could have driven a bus through the Milan backline. InterтАЩs 2-0 win was their first in five attempts against their crosstown rivals in Europe.
Making that happen was Dzeko, showing that there is place for a 37-year-old at footballтАЩs high table. He became the second-oldest player to score in a Champions League semi-final after Ryan Giggs. тАЬToday I worked for the team and that was what was needed in such a big match,тАЭ the Bosnian told Prime Video.
Dzeko had 38 touches, five in the rival penalty area and one in his own when he headed out a corner-kick in the 67th minute. Ever ready to hold the ball, Dzeko managed to get other players into the game in the way a starved-of-service Olivier Giroud could not.
Like he did five years ago against Barcelona, Dzeko made the difference in the clubsтАЩ biggest game in Europe since they met at this stage in the Champions League in 2004-05; one that was abandoned but immortalised by the iconic bromance frame of InterтАЩs Marco Materazzi resting an elbow on MilanтАЩs Rui Costa.
In that match against Barcelona, Dzeko was representing Roma. Having to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first leg which they had lost 1-4, Dzeko scoring the goal that would be RomaтАЩs lifeline in the return leg, the Bosnian striker had put in a man-of-the-match shift to take Roma to the semi-final.
On Wednesday, it was a foul on Dzeko that fetched a free-kick which Milan cleared for a corner kick. From the corner kick, Dzeko imperiously volleyed home. Milan had dealt with the telescopic limbs of Victor Osimhen in one leg of the quarter-final but against Dzeko, they had no answer. Even as right-back Davide Calabria barged into him тАУ in a case of zonal defending of a set-piece gone wrong as it pitted the smallest against the biggest on the pitch тАУ Dzeko stuck out his left leg and volleyed Hakan CalhanogluтАЩs delivery.
In the way his run took away MilanтАЩs central defenders, Dzeko contributed to the second goal too. As did his strike partner Lautaro Martinez whose feint may have foxed Sandro Tonali into thinking that the Argentinian would receive Federico DemarcioтАЩs ball after the left wingback was fed by Nicolo Barella.
By the time, Tonali realised that Mkhitaryan had broken through it was too late. Aiming his shot like it was a penalty kick, MkhitaryanтАЩs banged down the middle as Mike Maignan dived to his right.
It is the run from the middle by a midfielder that is the most difficult to track, the ATK Mohun Bagan midfielder Joni Kauko has said. MilanтАЩs inability to do that deflated what was their home game, one where their former greats Andrea Pirlo, Paolo Maldini and Andriy Shevchenko were in attendance with Novak Djokovic. In a game that Italian daily La Repubblica said could have filled San Siro 26 times because there was a demand for 2 million tickets, InterтАЩs box had Javier Zanetti, one of their vice presidents.
MilanтАЩs night could have got worse had CalhanogluтАЩs drive not ricocheted off the inside of the upright and Mkhitaryan first and then Barella made more of the rebound. Or a penalty awarded for a foul on Martinez not overturned following a VAR check.
The home team had a better second half; Divock OrigiтАЩs pace causing Inter problems but by then the visiting team had battened down the hatches. Wingbacks Denzel Dumfries and Dimarco had closed MilanтАЩs counter-attacking route which meant Theo Hernandez could not push up as he did for France in Doha. That sucked oxygen out of their attack for with 42 direct attacks тАУ defined as a move that in 15 seconds produces a touch or shot in the rival penalty area after beginning in their own half тАУ MilanтАЩs record was the best in the Champions League.
Tonali orchestrated MilanтАЩs attacks better in the second half and once shot into the upright. Brahim Diaz and Junio Messias tried bending it but MilanтАЩs night was summed up by a Hernandez free-kick that sailed into the night. InterтАЩs could be defined by Stefan de Vrij chasing Origi when they were comfortably in control.
“Right from the first minute we had a great desire to win,” Mkhitaryan told Prime Video. “But it’s not over yet. A great battle awaits us.”
On Tuesday, Milan could have Rafael Leao who was injured in the first leg and seen fretting in the stands. Milan manager Stefano Pioli has admitted that they would need тАЬmore quality and a more aggressive attitudeтАЭ but even that may not be enough.
