Pippo's Milan came into the derby without a win in their last four. But that would all be forgetten if they could muster a win against their arch-rivals Inter, who also in a bad slump. With a only a single point in their last two games, a defeat to bottom place Parma and a draw to struggling Hellas Verona at home ending the tenure of Walter Mazzarri. The new man in the dugout is a familiar face, Roberto Mancini. Having previously won 3 Scudetto's, 2 Coppa Italia's and 2 Supercoppa's, he would be hoping to emulate that this time round. So his second Derby della Madonnina debut is his first game back, no pressure then.
This is how the teams lined up:
Milan XI: Diego Lopez; Rami, Zapata, Mexes, De Sciglio; Essien, Muntari;Bonaventura, Menez, El Shaarawy; Torres.
Inter XI: Handanovic; Nagatomo, Ranocchia, Juan Jesus, Dodò; Guarin,Kuzmanovic, Obi; Kovacic; Icardi, Palacio.
Ref: Guida.
Goalscorers: Milan - Ménez. Inter - Obi.
Inter had the first big chance of the game seven minutes in. Icardi was played through by a careless misplaced pass from Sulley Muntari, however the big Spaniard in net - Diego Lopez was composed when Icardi was one on one as he parried his effort away. Lopez was again called into action when Guarín had an effort from way out bouncing awkwardly in front of Milan's number 1. However after resisting Inter's early pressure it was Milan who broke the deadlock. Stephan El Shaarawy burst forward on the counter attack crossing in from the left finding the Frenchman, Jérémy Ménez who connected beautifully with a side footed volley. The Slovenian International, Samir Handanović stood no chance.
After the interval the first chance fell Milan's way. Giacomo Bonaventura's effort was deflected across goal and wide however Inter missed a massive chance just moments after. Diego Lopez saved Zdravko Kuzmanović effort from point-blank range and it ended up turning into a goalmouth scramble. Eventually finding it's way to Icardi who blazed it well over the bar. After 60 minutes, Inter finally got their reward for their persistence. Zapata's poor clearance founds it's way to Obi who fended off Sulley Muntari brilliantly before placing his strike to the bottom right hand side of Lopez's goal.
With only 15 minutes left, Stephan El Shaarawy had the chance to make it 2-1 to the Rossoneri. A chance he would have dreamed of. Bonaventura played a delightful ball to El Shaarawy sending him through on goal but the Italian International lost his composure and hit his shot with too much power smacking the crossbar, one on one with Handanović. Moments later substitute Keisuke Honda had his first chance of the game cutting on his left and striking from distance having his shot comfortably saved by Handanović. Inter then thought they claimed all three points when Icardi saw his half-volley clipping the top of the crossbar, Diego Lopez stood grounded. Bonaventura once again found El Shaarawy in a promising position but the Italian hesitated and was later stopped by Juan Jesus. An the other end Zapata was forced to make a brilliant last ditch tackle against his compatriot Fredy Guarín after Mexès's shocking pass. In the dying minutes Milan was so unlucky not to claim all three points after Rami's drilled cross eventually found it's way to Poli whose strike was deflected for a corner by Inter skipper, Andrea Ranocchia.
This result leaves both Milanese sides frustrated after they would have both wanted to win this game to earn the bragging rights and more importantly the three points. Both teams have great opportunities to bounce back. Milan host Udinese next Sunday lunchtime which will prove to be a tough test for Pippo's men. While Inter travel to Rome to take on second place Roma.