Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu scored a penalty against his former club AC Milan, who missed out on an opportunity to go top of Serie A in a 1-1 entertaining derby draw at San Siro.
Calhanoglu, who joined the blue half of Milan from the red side on a free transfer last transfer window- won and then converted an early spot-kick, but Inter was pegged back soon after as Stefan de Vrij scored an own goal to level matters.
The Nerazzurri were handed a second penalty in the first half, but Milan shot-stopper Ciprian Tatarusanu saved Lautaro Martinez’s strike from 12 yards to keep his side level.
Inter Milan players celebrate after Hakan Calhanoglu scored the opener against AC Milan in a Serie A battle on Sunday, 7 November 2021. | PHOTO: Getty Images |
Inter looked like the more dangerous side in the second half, yet they were unable to secure the victory. However, simply denying Milan three points meant the title-chasing Rossoneri were unable to leapfrog Napoli, who also drew 1-1 with Hellas Verona to keep the title charge as live as it has never been in the last 10 years.
Calhanoglu opened the scoring against his former employers, earning a penalty from Franck Kessie before powering the spot-kick down the middle in the 11th minute following a lengthy VAR check.
Inter’s lead did not last long, however, as De Vrij unintentionally headed into his own net past Samir Handanovic just six minutes later after losing the flight of a cross from the left.
Milan then conceded a second penalty, with Fode Ballo-Toure scything Inter wing back Matteo Darmian down in the box, but Martinez stepped up this time and Tatarusanu produced a superb save from the striker’s well-struck effort in the bottom-left corner.
Inter twice looked sure to re-take the lead shortly before the break when Nicolo Barella’s shot was hacked off the line by Ballo-Toure before Martinez fired narrowly wide.
The Nerazzurri continued to push for a second after half-time and created a number of chances, including Calhanoglu’s fizzing effort across the goal, which was missed by both Martinez and Edin Dzeko.
Substitute Alexis Saelemaekers struck the post and Kessie skewed the rebound wide in the Rossoneri’s best chance to win the game late on, but ultimately neither side was able to find a winner in the closing stages.
Napoli’s unexpected 1-1 draw at home against mid-table Hellas Verona gave Milan the opportunity to move two points clear at the top of Serie A, but the Rossoneri were second-best in the derby and were fortunate to come away with a point as Tatarusanu denied Martinez from the spot. This means Milan and Napoli are still tied level on points at the helm of Serie A.
Inter forward Hakan Calhanoglu is just the fourth player in history to score in his first Milan derby after switching the Milan clubs. Calhanoglu scored for the Inter the opener against his former club Milan in a Serie A clash on Sunday, 7 November 2021. | PHOTO: SkySports Italia |
Calhanoglu has become just the fourth player to score in his first Serie A Milan derby after having played the previous one with the opposing team since the current Serie A started in 1994/1995.
The Turkey international joins the illustrious trio of Hernan Crespo, Ronaldo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Heading into this match, Inter forward Dzeko had scored five Serie A goals against Milan, four at coming at San Siro – since his debut in the competition in the 2015-16 season, he has scored the most goals in away matches against the Rossoneri in Serie A.
Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic had scored six goals in six Serie A derbies for Milan against Inter, but neither center-forward was able to find the net in this contest and win the game for their side.
Both sides will head into the break and will be back into Serie A action after a couple of weeks. Milan travels to face Fiorentina after the international break on November 20, while Inter host Napoli the day after in what is promising to be an entertaining Serie A battle.
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