Inter Milan defeated arch-rivals AC Milan 2-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday evening.
The Rossoneri were without striker Rafael Leao who got injured in their win over Lazio in the domestic league while Inter dropped striker Romelu Lukaku in favour of Edin Dzeko, who joined Lautaro Martinez upfront.
Inter had the perfect start after Dzeko fired them ahead within eight minutes from the restart with a looping shot into the top corner after a corner by Hakan Calhanoglu.
The Nerazzurri remained on the front foot as Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubled their lead just three minutes later with a close-range finish after a though ball by Federico Dimarco.
A fast start for Inter continued as Calhanoglu almost made it 3-0 on 15 minutes with a cracking shot from outside the box that came off the base of the post and Mkhitaryan could not capitalise from the rebound, as he fired his shot straight at goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Simone Inzaghi's charges had things going their way as they were initially awarded a penalty just after the half-hour mark after a foul on Martinez by Simon Kjaer in the box but after reviewing the incident on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) monitor, the referee overturned his original decision.
Milan were still subdued in the closing phase of the first stanza and hardly posed any danger, with Inter the most threatening side even to already put the game to bed.
The game opened up early in the second stanza as the Rossoneri looked much better going forward but Dzeko had a glorious chance for the Nerazzurri ten minutes in clear on goal but was denied by Maignan in a one-on-one.
Milan, however, had the momentum and to keep Inter under pressure on the hour-mark, Stefano Pioli brought on Divock Origi in place of Alexis Saelemaekers for fresh legs in attack.
The changes had an immediate effect on the Rossoneri as Sandro Tonali came close to reducing the deficit with a low drive from just outside the box that crashed against the bottom post.
Inter, on the other hand, were not resting on their laurels, as with 20 minutes to go they eventually brought on Lukaku in place of Dzeko for fresh legs up top.
Milan had a fight in them in the closing stages but the Nerazzuri kept a very good discipline and crowded them in the advanced areas and managed to clinch a 2-0 win ahead of the second-leg next Tuesday evening at the same stadium.
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