Serie A: Mauro Icardi nets late winner as Inter edge out Milan in derby

Argentine striker Mauro Icardi continued with his last-gasp match-winning heroics as his header in the stoppage time handed his Inter Milan a 1-0 win over city rivals AC Milan on Monday.

But this derby win would be marred by the fact that their star midfielder Rajda Nainggolan sustained an ankle injury in the first half after a tackle from Lucas Biglia. Nainggolan would have his tests on Monday but his participation in the Champions League fixture against Barcelona remains a doubt.

Inter Milan would further rue the injuries of two of other main players Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic–both of whom have problems in their right thighs.

Also read: Champions League: Athletico Madrid, Dortmund and Inter Milan victorious

“I’m not worried because I have an important squad..It will be difficult for them to recover though,” Inter Milan coach Luciano Spalletti said, as quoted by AP.

“I will change some players for the Barcelona match because everyone has to feel involved in our journey, otherwise we can’t reach our aims,” he added.

For the fifth time this season, Inter Milan scored a late goal and it was Icardi who was the star on the night who netted in the winner from a cross by Matias Vecino in the second minute off stoppage time, just as the match looked as if it would end goalless.

“You can’t explain these feelings. I can only say it’s utter joy. Winning like this, with my goal right at the end, it’s really impossible to explain,” said Icardi.

“But we should have finished off the match earlier in order not to suffer, us and the fans. But we did it. We’ve kept up our positive run. Now we need to continue.”

Inter Milan now have reduced the gap to six points with table-toppers Juventus.

“We took a step back in technical terms but we took a step forward mentally,” Gennaro Gattuso, AC Milan coach said.
“Inter did something more than us, they deserved the win, but our performance is not something to throw away. I really liked the team’s attitude.

“There are so many positive things to take from this match … The regret comes from the last 15 minutes when the match was more open … we could have done better,” he stated further.

Image credit- Daily Express