Milan Derby Day | How the Rossoneri turned things around for Paulo Fonseca

The Serie A season has exploded into life with shocks and surprises up and down the league table, but none more so than A.C Milan’s derby day victory against fierce rivals Inter on Sunday night.

Nobody predicted such an outcome. Inter Milan have dominated their city rivals for a few years now, knocking them out of the Champions League, stealing their league title, and of course beating them to last season’s Scudetto on derby day itself. However this weekend the tides turned and Milan finally laid a glove on their old foe.

The San Siro erupted into life on a warm night in north Italy. Milan’s Curva Sud matched the Inter fans for noise despite being the away team, they might even have been louder than them, especially after a late winner saw their side win 2-1.

Milan had the momentum early on too. Christian Pulisic robbed the ball in the middle of the park and danced through the Nerrazzuri defence to make it 1-0. The U.S.A international did his best Diego Maradona impression and scored a sublime goal that was fit to win any derby. The Curva Sud went berserk and the red flares began burning bright.

Two of Inter’s stars, pardon the pun, were involved in the equaliser. Federico Dimarco, the lifelong Inter fanatic, smashed home with his famous left boot and the ball was poked through to him by captain Lautaro Martinez. Despite the AC Milan fans being slightly louder over the course of the evening, when Inter scored we definitely heard the loudest roar of the night. It looked like they would be back on their way to restoring the status quo.

The second half was a fabulous watch for the neutral. It was truly end to end stuff, but where Inter perhaps were creating half-chances, Milan were carving their defence open at the other end, and should have score a couple of goals before they eventually found a last gasp winner. Matteo Gabbia’s 89th minute header saw the Inter end empty in a flash. The red and black side visiting their home ground as the away team recorded a famous victory in a week that had seen them threaten by their ultras and well beaten at home by Liverpool.

The noise from the Milan end was incredible, their players danced on the pitch, and even under-pressure boss Paulo Fonseca could crack a smile. That win has certainly bought him time and popularity with this giant fanbase. Outside of the ground, all was refreshingly amicable. Both sides tossed insults over the playing surface for 90 minutes, and red and blue sound waves clashed across the San Siro sky. Yet, in the aftermath fans were seen mingling and there was absolutely no trouble at all. Not missing out on any passion, peace still prevailed on the streets of Milan after the game.

The backdrop of the stadium and the night sky was a fine finish to a Serie A weekend that saw Conte face his old Juventus side, a win for Roma after the departure of Daniele De Rossi and of course Torino on top of the table. The Milan derby was just the icing on the cake.

Joseph O’Sullivan I GIFN