AC Milan embarrassed their fierce rivals with a resounding victory that keeps Siniša Mihajlovic’s side in touching distance with the top three.
The Rossoneri have defeated Inter Milan 3-0 in the latest installment of the Derby della Madonnina at the San Siro on Sunday, with Alex, Carlos Bacca and M’Baye Niang all scoring for the home side.
Brazilian centre-back Alex put Mihajlovic’s men in front with a strong header following a dangerous delivery into the box by Keisuke Honda.
With 20 minutes left of the match, substitute Mauro Icardi had a chance to pull his side level from the penalty spot but had his effort cannon off the post, with Bacca and Niang netting a quick-fire double just minutes after the unsuccessful spot kick to hand the home team its biggest derby victory since 2011.
The result sees Milan come within six points of third-place Fiorentina, whilst Inter have won just one league game in their last six attempts.
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Inter’s Scudetto hopes over, and they must pick up if they are to make top three
If it was not already confirmed prior to this encounter, Roberto Mancini’s men have absolutely no chance of winning the Scudetto in 2015-16.
All season Inter have struggled to create chances and score goals, which has gone slightly unnoticed in the past due to a strong defensive unit employed by the 51-year-old manager. Now that this defensive unit is not performing at its peak, the Nerazzurri are failing to gather an adequate amount of points. Previously, 1-0 wins were acceptable – and a feature of a very structured and rigid Inter Milan team – but now that the defence is not functioning to how it once was earlier in the season, Inter’s inability to attack and make fluid transitions from midfield to the strikers has become more obvious and damaging to the side.
The performance against Milan highlighted Inter’s troubles. With the home side itself in a position of peril in recent times, Inter still failed to outperform their city rivals, and were simply pathetic, especially in the second half.
Ever since the 2-1 home loss to Lazio in late 2015, the Nerazzurri have largely looked out of sorts and do not even look like a team capable of qualifying for the Europa League. If not for the side’s impressive, if not lucky, start to the campaign, Inter would be further down the table and find themselves in a similar position to last season where they needed a late rally to get themselves within an arm’s length of qualifying for Europe’s second tier competition.
Improvement is a must, or else Internazionale may find themselves out of contention to qualify for the Champions League altogether come the end of the campaign. Performances such as the one against AC Milan must not be repeated.
Niang and Bacca becoming a lethal partnership
It does not appear to be a coincidence that ever since Niang and Bacca started playing up front together Milan’s results and performances have picked up.
Everyone knew Bacca’s quality the moment he stepped foot into the San Siro for a whopping €30 million fee. He came in from Sevilla with a lethal goalscoring record and a reputation as one of the most lethal, consistent and in-form strikers on the market. However it has been Niang’s surprising rise to the Milan starting XI that has also aided in the Rossoneri’s recent success.
After a left-field transfer from Caen back in 2012-13, the Frenchman showed signs of promise playing under Massimiliano Allegri that season. After falling off the radar shortly after and being loaned out to Montpellier and Genoa, the 21-year-old has come back with a bang, re-announcing himself to Italian football with a man-of-the-math performance against Sampdoria late last year, among other impressive showings.
As time has gone on, Bacca and Niang have come to understand each other more and have led the team from the front, helping gain important results such as this one against Inter in which the pair were vital to their side’s clinical victory.
Milan a unified team, Inter are not
Following a promising first half of the season, Inter have fizzled out in 2016, with this performance against AC Milan a monumental blow to the side’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
For the entirety of the 90 minutes, the Nerazzurri looked a team bereft of any confidence whatsoever and one that did not look united in their aim to secure a vital three points in their own city against their biggest rivals. Throughout much of the contest, most of the 11 on the pitch wearing black and blue did not appear to have a hint of determination in their movements and failed to link up with each other.
AC Milan, by stark contrast, pressed together, attacked together, defended together and linked up well as a unit. Especially after Bacca’s goal, the home side were rampant, not allowing Inter any time to breathe and shutting down their opponents as a team. The likes of Alex, Alessio Romagnoli, Juraj Kucka, Honda and the two strikers were immense, whereas most of the Inter side were the exact opposite.
Mihajlovic appears to have his men motivated and behind him, whereas Mancini appears to have lost his players.
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