Milan: Inter sealed the Serie A title after beating AC Milan 2-1 on Monday to extend their unassailable lead at the top of the league with a sixth derby victory.
Goals from Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram gave Inter a 17-point lead over nearest rivals Milan and their 20th league crown with five games to play this season.
Inter last won A in 2021, AC Milan in 2022 and Napoli last year.
It was Simone Inzaghi’s first league title as manager and on a cold and wet evening at the San Siro, 75,000 fans roared with pride and let off fireworks in front of Inter’s ‘away’ fans. from the pulpit in the last ring.
Milan fought back in the final moments after Fikayo Tomori pulled one back with 10 minutes remaining, but Inter started their title celebrations after a game that included three red cards.
“I feel like crying, we’ve worked hard, it’s worth celebrating,” said a tearful captain Lautaro Martinez.
Inter became only the second team to win 20 Italian league titles and will wear the second jersey behind leaders Juventus with 36 league titles.
Inzaghi’s team destroyed the rest in style and became the first team to win the Milan derby.
Inter had a long run at the start of the year as reigning champions Napoli crashed and burned at the start of the campaign and Milan collapsed in the autumn.
Juve looked like a contender, but in February Inter’s hopes of a deep run in the Champions League collapsed after 13 wins.
The future also looks bright as Inzaghi, Martinez and Italian midfielder Niccolo Barella are set to sign contract extensions, with smart work in the transfer market and increased revenue helping to mitigate the significant financial damage from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Piotr Zielinski and Mehdi Taremi will arrive from Napoli and Porto as free agents next season, while big stars like Thuram should stay.
“Crazy feeling, crazy game. We want to do it for our fans and we did it. This is my first league title and I’m proud,” said Thuram.
Inter’s away side nominally headed for the title party on Monday when Acerbi was freed to head home Benjamin Pavard in the 18th minute.
Inter should have gone two ahead after seven minutes through Lautaro Martinez, who lost his footing when Federico Dimarco’s superb strike fell to the Argentine striker.
His strike partner Thuram was equally at fault for not taking the lead seven minutes before the break when he had a good chance after being set up by Nicolo Barella.
But shortly after half-time, Thuram capped it off with a fine individual goal to make it his 12th of the Serie A season.
Annan Sommer did well to keep out a great shot from Theo Hernández as the Milan fans let out a huge fire in the stands.
The resulting smoke mixed with the steady rain created a hazy atmosphere around the San Siro, and as soon as Inter settled down to watch the match, Tomori made sure to head home.
But, instead of leveling the game, Theo Hernandez and David Calabria received a red card immediately during the stoppage.
Inter’s Denzel Dumfries was also sent off in the closing minutes, but that didn’t matter to his side, who danced and danced in front of jubilant fans.
