AC Milan Vs. Inter Milan: Walter Samuel Goal Gives Inter 1-0 Victory

The sun sets on the first Derby della Madonnina of the season, and Inter Milan have come away with a surprising 1-0 victory. Surprising not because they were favored over AC Milan, but because the nerazzurri went down to ten men with 40+ minutes left to play, and yet Milan still couldn’t make them pay.

Inter came out of the gates swinging, pressuring their rivals from the sound of the whistle. It took just four minutes for that pressure to pay off. Esteban Cambiasso sent a lovely free kick curling toward the far post, where Walter Samuel broke free of Mattia De Sciglio. Christian Abbiati could do nothing about his diving header, giving Inter an early lead.

Inter Milan look like a better version of the Nerazzurri than the team that played last season, but they’ve yet to face any of Italy’s top sides. That’s assuming that Roma isn’t considered a top side anymore, and even if they are, they defeated Inter at the San Siro. To date, their best result is a win away to Chievo. Inter’s quality or lack thereof is still a bit of a mystery.

Inter Milan injuries and suspensions

Last season, Inter won both legs, the first a fairly dull 1-0, the second a much more thrilling 4-2 victory. Surprisingly, it was Milan that came out on top in the standings. In the two seasons prior, the spoils went to the team dominating the league: In their treble-winning season of 2009-2010, Inter came away with a combined 6-0 derby victory. The next season, in which the rossoneri took the scudetto, it was their turn to hold their opponents scoreless over two legs.

In general, over the course of the last decade, one side tended to win both derbies in a season. And if we were to make a bet on which would be most likely to do just that this season, the bet would have to be on the nerazzurri.