Inter Milan secures 20th Serie A title with derby day victory
Inter Milan secured the 2023/24 Serie A title with a road win over rivals AC Milan. It is Inter’s first domestic league triumph since the 2020/21 campaign, and it is the club’s 20th top-flight title. Now, Inter Milan joins Juventus as the only Italian teams to win the top division at least 20 times. Fittingly, Inter Milan broke a tie with AC Milan courtesy of this win over Milan. Entering the season, both Milanese clubs were on 19 titles. Inter currently holds sole possession of second in that department.
Inter’s title-winning season has long been a forgone conclusion. Entering Monday night’s matchup, Inter held a 14-point gap over Milan with six games remaining. It would take a remarkable dip in form from the Nerazzurri to lose their grip on the Serie A title. Regardless, it was a point of pride for Milan to ensure their biggest rivals did not clinch the title in front of the side’s supporters.
However, Inter Milan’s 2-1 win locked up Serie A for Simone Inzaghi. Goals from Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram outdid Milan’s lone goal from Fikayo Tomori. With ample supporters in attendance for this ‘road’ game, the black and blue side of Milan began its 2023/24 party on Monday evening.
Visitors open a two-goal lead at the San Siro
As predicted, the Derby della Madonnina had all the drama one would expect. With the added flair of title implications, the team with the better start was always going to impose its dominance. On Monday, that was Inter. A corner kick in the 18th minute from Federico Dimarco met the head of Benjamin Pavard. The right-back flicked the ball into the middle of the box, where no Milan player was defending Francesco Acerbi. The Italian dunked the ball in with his head to set Inter on a path to the title.
Inter had the better chances in the first half, including a shot off the post from Nicolo Barella. But that does not mean Milan was out of the contest. Yann Sommer made two good saves on Rafael Leao and Calabria. However, the end-to-end nature of this derby also led to quick chances from Inter. Mike Maignan did well to keep the game a one-goal deficit at halftime.
That one-goal deficit became two just four minutes into the second half. A long ball over the top from the Inter defense found Thuram behind the defense. At first, Milan did well to repel the Frenchman. Yet, he skillfully found his way into a scoring area before lashing his shot to the near post to beat Maignan.
Tomori’s goal not enough for Milan as Inter wins Serie A
AC Milan had a lifeline back into the game and the league with a goal in the 80th minute. A well-worked play starting from the defense eventually led to a close-range header from Matteo Gabbia. A fantastic save from Sommer deflected off the post where Fikayo Tomori was waiting. The Englishman bundled the ball in with his head, and it was now a one-goal game. Yet, that was the last true chance Milan had in the game.
As Milan grappled with the impending defeat with next to no time remaining, the game resorted to chaos. Denzel Dumfries and Theo Hernandez got into a scuffle, and the referee brandished both players with a direct red card in second-half stoppage time. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, a wild swing of the fist from Davide Calabria caught Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the face. The referee quickly issued a third red card of the game.
While it was an ugly end to the game, the result was clear. Inter Milan had won, and in doing so it secured the Scudetto for the 20th time in its history. As a result, Inter will earn a second star on its patch ahead of next season, an award given to a team every time it wins the league on 10 occasions.
PHOTOS: IMAGO