AC Milan complete another comeback to win Supercoppa

Milan completed another comeback to record a 3-2 win over city rivals Inter Milan to clinch the Italian Supercoppa trophy.

This was another comeback win for Sergio Conceicao, who became Milan’s manager a few days ago.

The Diavolo recorded a comeback against Juventus in the semifinals to set up a date with Inter. This is an extraordinary comeback as Milan had to come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in stoppages, all thanks to Rafael Leao, who inspired all three goals. 

With this success, there is an end to Inter’s Supercoppa Italiana domination.

Inter, the defending champions, were strong favorites in this special Derby della Madonnina at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh, having beaten Atalanta 2-0 in their semifinal, while the Rossoneri fought back for a 2-1 win against Juventus on new coach Conceicao’s debut.

Nerazurri showed their intent to win the tie early on as Malick Thiaw and Mike Maignan combined to stop Lautaro Martinez from six yards after he controlled a long Alessandro Bastoni pass at full stretch while  Taremi headed wide from a Nicolò Barella cross.

Tijjani Reijnders showed great form again when he went through the centre but scuffed his effort off target. 

 Maignan was again called to action when he palmed the ferocious Federico Dimarco strike over after a Taremi counter-attack.

Hakan Calhanoglu couldn’t complete the game due to an adductor issue at 35 minutes and was replaced by Kristjan Asllani.

Inter also stopped Milan from going ahead when Bastoni, with a crucial interception, prevented Alex Jimenez from rolling across for the Alvaro Morata tap-in.

Simon Inzaghi’s men eventually took the lead on the stroke of half-time through their skipper, Martinez.

Dimarco beat Emerson Royal with a quick Dimarco throw-in for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Taremi kept it moving left to the right for Martinez, who cut back inside Thiaw to drill through Theo Hernandez’s legs into the near bottom corner. The 2022 World Cup winner has scored four Supercoppa Italiana goals, equalling the Paulo Dybala record.

The Nerazzurri controlled the game and made it two within 60 seconds of the restart. Taremi, with great skill, controlled a long ball over the top, and the first touch set him up perfectly to sweep into the near bottom corner with the inside of the right boot.

Leao, who was an injury doubt for the game a few days ago, was brought on and made an immediate impact. After being brought down by Mkhitaryan for a free kick from the edge of the area,  Theo Hernandez curled around the wall to surprise Yann Sommer at the near post.

With such a lifeline, Milan continued the search for the equalizer. A huge opportunity came their way on 62 minutes when Leao sprinted past Yann Bisseck and pulled back from the by-line for Reijnders, but  Bastoni stopped Inter from regaining a two-goal lead when he threw himself in the way to charge down the finish with his face from seven yards.

Milan eventually restored parity when Rafael Leao sent Theo Hernandez sprinting down the left, pulled it back for Pulisic to control, and turned low into the far bottom corner from 12 yards.

Milan eventually turned it around in the 93rd minute as Leao again ran onto the Pulisic through ball down the right flank and pulled it across for substitute Tammy Abraham’s tap-in from a couple of yards that took Milan to their first trophy under new coach Sergio Conceicao.