Sérgio Conceição's AC Milan won the Italian Super Cup this Monday, beating rival Inter Milan, by 3-2, after losing 0-2, in the final played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Os “Rossoneri” reached their eighth achievement in the competition, equaling the “Nerazzurri”who were unable to catch record holders Juventus nor surpass Simone Inzaghi's record of three consecutive victories will continue to share with Fabio Capello, winner of three editions between 1993 and 1995, for AC Milan.
For Sérgio Conceição, after the victory in the opening game over Juventus, this was an even more special achievement, marking Milan's 50th title, a feat like the goals of Lautaro Martínez (45+1') and Mehdi Taremi (47'). ) managed to ruin it, acting as a touchstone for Milan's comeback, in a dizzying game accelerated by the entry of Portuguese Rafael Leão.
In response to Inter's goals, Theo Hernández (52'), Pulisic (80') and Tammy Abraham (90+3') took the trophy to the Milan museum, eventually overcoming an obstacle in which it was necessary to appeal to the entire capacity, heart and competence of the Conceição team.
If for Simone Inzaghi, Sérgio Conceição's former teammate at Sven-Göran Eriksson's Lazio, this would be the sixth conquest as coach (seventh in total) and fourth in the last four editions, for the Portuguese it ended up being confirmation of a “whiplash“ happy at AC Milan, who won the trophy for the first time with a foreign coach at the helm.
Thus, to the happiness of the Portuguese coach, who succeeded Paulo Fonseca as Milan's coach, despite goals from Lautaro Martínez in first-half stoppage time (45+1') and from ex-FC Porto Mehdi Taremi practically opening the second time (47'), the reaction came in time to prevent an outcome that seemed set too soon.
Os Rossoneri They reduced it through Theo Hernández (52'), created several opportunities (with Rafael Leão already in play) to equalize, but only managed to beat their rival after Pulisic and Abraham did the improbable.
More routine and aware of the superiority reflected in their 13-point advantage over their rivals in the Italian league, Inter Milan began to take over the game, contrasting with an AC Milan team still searching for a new identity.
Despite the premise of the duel between the champion and the runner-up of the last Serie A (which eliminated Juventus, winner of the Italian Cup), the “Rossoneri” They managed to define the times and spaces of pressure well, blocking the rival's play.
Sérgio Conceição's team was even the most dangerous, with Pulisic and Reijnders wasting a couple of opportunities.
With Taremi starting, Inter tried to score through the Iranian, Dimarco and Lautaro Martínez, who ended up scoring in the last play of the first half, after a quick throw-in that surprised AC Milan's defense.
A real punch in the stomach for Conceição's team, which moments before had an excellent opportunity in a cross from Álex Jiménez that Bastoni intercepted, to the despair of Álvaro Morata.
Worse was the “betrayal” of the former FC Porto player, with Iranian Mehdi Taremi increasing the lead and forcing Milan to rush into a dizzying game, accentuated by Theo Hernández's response after just five minutes.
With Leão on the field, Milan believed, pushed and were happy, scoring the winning goal when everyone was already preparing for the shootout on penalties.
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