Milan 3-2 Inter Milan (January 6, 2025) Game Analysis

A goal in added time from Tammy Abraham completed a fantastic comeback for AC Milan who won the Italian Super Cup with a dramatic 3-2 victory over city rivals Inter Milan in Monday’s final in Riyadh after going down by two goals early in the game.

USA star Christian Pulisic scored the goal to bring Milan level with their city rivals at Al-Awwal Park, then played the key pass to unlock Inter’s defense on Abraham’s winning goal.

The win denied Inter what would have been an unprecedented fourth consecutive Super Cup trophy and allowed Milan to equal Inter’s eight wins in the competition, with new manager Serge Conceicao lifting a trophy in his second game in charge.

“We played with confidence, guts and hunger,” Abraham said. “We are a strong team.”

The match was preceded by a spectacular light show at the King Saud University Stadium, but the match really came to life in the final seconds of the opening half.

Mehdi Taremi ted up Lautaro Martinez with a cross-field pass and the striker used some neat footwork to deceive Malick Thiaw before firing a low shot through its legs Theo Hernandezwhich struck Mike Maignan at his nearest post office.

Two minutes after the break, Inter continued where they left off. Stefan de Vrij played a long ball over the top which Taremi controlled beautifully and curled his shot into the bottom corner to double their advantage.

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Milan responded by passing on Rafael Leãowho immediately won a free-kick just outside the area which Hernandez curled low around the wall and snuck just inside the post to reopen the tie.

A rejuvenated Milan pressed for an equaliser. Tijjani Reijnders had a shot blocked by the face on Alessandro Bastoni and Inter-keeper Yann Sommer got a nice save from one Alvaro Morata heading.

Inter then had a chance to restore their two-goal advantage, but Carlos Augusto‘s header from close range deflected off the upright and into the arms of Maignan on the goal line, but Milan found the equalizer with 10 minutes remaining.

Pulisic, surrounded by three Inter players, controlled a cross from Hernandez and steered his shot into the far corner, and it looked like the tie would be decided by a penalty shootout with no extra time to be played.

However, Milan continued to press and they were rewarded when Leao pulled the ball back across goal and Abraham, another substitute, was there for the simplest of tap-ins to break Inter’s hearts.

Conceicao, who replaced the sacked Paulo Fonseca last week, celebrated wildly with his players as the Inter team fell to the floor in disbelief.

“It’s also our fault that Fonseca was fired,” said Hernandez, who often clashed with Fonseca. “We didn’t have a lot of time to work together (with Conceicao), but it has gone well in the short time.”

Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.