Inter defeated AC Milan 1-0 at the Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday night in Serie A, in the first Derby della Madonnina of the season.
A solitary goal from Fredy Guarin gave the Nerazzurri victory, although Mario Balotelli nearly saved a point for the Rossoneri on his second debut for the club.
As a passionate atmosphere swirled around the San Siro, Inter had the greater possession in the first-half, but that enabled Milan to find space behind their defensive line and continually threaten.
Rossoneri striker Luiz Adriano nearly exposed the Nerazzurri weakness on 18 minutes, only for Juan Jesus to make a last-gasp block, as Roberto Mancini’s side were limited Stevan Jovetic efforts from distance.
However, it was with point-blank chances at each end of the opening 45 minutes that should have seen both sides break the deadlock.
Just three minutes in Jeison Murillo’s misplaced pass allowed Carlos Bacca to play-in Adriano but an alert Samir Handanovic smothered, and then in stoppage time Diego Lopez made a similar stop on Mauro Icardi.
On 58 minutes Inter did have the lead, some risky passing across their own backline eventually launching an attack that ended with Guarin driving forward and curling the ball past Lopez with his left foot.
The introduction of ex-Nerazzurri striker Balotelli shortly after then raised the temperature inside the stadium further, and the 25-year-old nearly made the perfect entrance when a long-range effort struck the post.
However, when Handanovic tipped another impressive Balotelli strike round the post moments later it appeared it would not be the Italian’s or Milan’s night.
This defeat is another setback for Milan and new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who welcome Palermo to the San Siro next weekend, however, after a third consecutive victory Inter will be full of confidence when they take on Chievo on Sunday afternoon.
