It’s a night to remember for AC Milan fans all over the world as the Rossoneri won the Supercoppa Italiana’s final 3-2 against Inter after an incredibly intense second half, where they scored three goals to defeat the side coached by Simone Inzaghi which had managed to go up 2-0 shortly after halftime. United States men’s national team star Christian Pulisic was one of the heroes of the day as he scored to tie the game 2-2 a few minutes before former AS Roma striker Tammy Abraham scored the winning goal during stoppage time giving new Rossoneri manager Sergio Conceicao his first trophy at the club, seven days after he replaced Paulo Fonseca on the bench of the Italian giants.
The first half saw both teams trying to score the opening goal as AC Milan had more chances with both Alex Jimenez and Alvaro Morata, but it was Inter that scored the first goal of the night in Riyhad with Lautaro Martinez, who finally came back to score his second goal in ten games in all competitions, a few moments before the end of the first half.
Inter dominated the restart of the game and immediately found their second goal with a nice ball from defender Stefan de Vrij for Mehdi Taremi, who scored his second goal of the season after the penalty in his Champions League home debut against Crvena Zvezda. In that moment the Nerazzurri seemed to have the match under control and be close to winning their fourth Supercup in a row, but things change very quickly in soccer.
AC Milan’s defender Theo Hernandez scored the first goal of the game for the Rossoneri directly from free kick and the game took a different path, with both teams going really close to score multiple goals until USMNT star Christian Pulisic was able to convert a nice play started on the left attacking side and scored the equalizer. It looked like everything was set for the penalties, but Tammy Abraham’s touch in front of Inter’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer led to AC Milan winning their first Supercoppa in nine years.
Why Inzaghi has to worry
Simone Inzaghi has to worry a lot about how Inter approached to the Supercoppa’s final after dominating the semifinal against Atalanta, especially for the way the Nerazzurri conceded three goals after scoring the opening two of the game, while the Italian manager will have also to deal with the injury of key midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu as he was forced to leave the pitch in the first half. After losing the second Derby della Madonnina of the 2024-25 season, Inter should start interrogate themselves on how they are approaching these crucial matches, and how sometimes they seem defensively confused.
While it’s too soon to underline what went wrong in Saudi Arabia, it’s probably time to question the role of Kristjan Asllani in the team. The performances of the natural replacement of Calhanoglu are far from the ones of the starter of this team and his defense’s lack of attention has damaged the performances of the team in the second half, especially when the former Empoli midfielder lost Leao before the deciding 3-2. Inter need all their players to win trophies, also considering how many games they will play until the end of the season, but it’s clear that some of their backups are not at the level they should be.
How Conceicao changed AC Milan
While the Inter manager may need to analyze and react after a disappointing defeat, Inzaghi’s former Lazio teammate Sergio Conceicao already showed he was able to change the destiny of AC Milan’s current season in less than a week. The former FC Porto manager was appointed on December 30, and in less than a week was able to make two incredible comebacks, first against Juventus in the semifinal and again against Inter in the final of the Supercoppa Italiana. After replacing Paulo Fonseca on the Rossoneri bench, Conceicao became the AC Milan manager who has taken the fewest matches (2) to win a trophy in the history of the Rossoneri club in all competitions since 1929-30, according to OPTA.
While some of their issues are still there and the first goal conceded to their city rivals showed it, Conceicao can make his comeback to Italian soccer knowing that he’s leading a team that is immediately following his instructions and showing on the pitch that they already have his character. In particular, he was able to make both Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao perform at their top levels after their arguments with former manager Fonseca, and both eere both crucial in the comeback.
It’s soon to write about if AC Milan are back with Conceicao as manager, but these two wins in less than four days showed that the direction is finally the right one, and winning a trophy against the city rivals can only help more. On Feb. 2 AC Milan will face Inter again in Serie A, a game that will probably tell us much more about the status of the Rossoneri under their new manager, or if the Nerazzurri will be able to win their first Derby della Madonnina of the 2024-25 season after two disappointing defeats.
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