Simone Inzaghi hails 'extraordinary' first half from Inter Milan against AC Milan, urges 'one more push' to make final
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Updated 11/05/2023 at 11:38 GMT
Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored as Inter Milan beat AC Milan 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at San Siro. Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is looking for "one more push" from his side to make the final, where they will face Real Madrid or Manchester City. AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori said it was "difficult to explain" why his side started so poorly.
'We played an extraordinary first half' - Inzaghi after Inter win over Milan in Champions League
Simone Inzaghi hailed an “extraordinary” first-half performance from Inter Milan as they took control of their Champions League semi-final against AC Milan.
Inter came flying out of the blocks against their city rivals with Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring in the opening 11 minutes.
Inter could have extended their lead further as Hakan Calhanoglu hit the post and a penalty decision was overturned by VAR following a challenge on Lautaro Martinez.
But Inzaghi's side will still take a 2-0 lead into the second leg next week.
“I am very satisfied, the first half was extraordinary, we really could’ve scored more than two goals,” Inzaghi told Amazon Prime Italia.
“It was a great game, we have already gone through several rounds, so we know it’s only half-time. We will have our fans behind us in the second leg and know there is still one more push to make this dream come true.”
Inter have now beaten Milan in three different competitions this season – the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Super Cup.
They have kept clean sheets in all three of those wins, and have now kept seven clean sheets in total in the Champions League this season.
“The lads covered every corner of the pitch,” added Inzaghi.
“They helped each other out and we know the job is not done yet.”
Mkhitaryan was named player of the match and highlighted Inter’s “extreme hunger” to get a positive result.
“From the first minute, we had this extreme hunger to win the game, which we proved in the first half,” he told Amazon Prime Italia.
“We controlled it more after the break and I congratulate my team-mates, but the job is not done, we have a big match coming up next week.
“We had the chances to score more goals, unfortunately we have to be satisfied with two and hope to score more in the second leg.”
AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori said it was "difficult to explain" why his side started so poorly.
"We conceded two goals quickly and against a team like Inter it’s difficult to recover,” he told Amazon Prime Italia.
“It’s difficult to explain, we are disappointed because we lost, we should have done more, but it’s only the first game, so we have to do more and better in the return leg.
“We must believe we can qualify for the final, it won’t be easy, we know they are strong, but if we play as we know, with intensity and quality, we can cause trouble for them, we are disappointed tonight."
The winner of the semi-final will face Real Madrid or Manchester City in the final. The first leg of that tie finished 1-1 in Madrid on Tuesday.
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