Inter 5-1 AC Milan: Henrikh Mkhitaryan strikes twice as Nerazzurri hammer rivals to claim derby bragging rights

A Marcus Thuram thunderbolt helped Inter Milan beat AC Milan 5-1 to maintain their perfect start to the Serie A season and earn an unprecedented fifth consecutive victory over their rivals.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring in the fifth minute, diverting a Federico Dimarco shot into the net, and really should have scored again shortly after but headed wide from a pinpoint Dimarco cross.

Thuram doubled the lead in style on 38 minutes, picking up a loose cross in a wide area, beating his marker and then unleashing a fierce shot which flew into the top corner and gave Mike Maignan no chance, despite the tight angle.

Rafael Leao pulled a goal back for the underwhelming Milan after the break, but Mkhitaryan added his second - deflected into the net following a lovely team move - to restore the two-goal cushion.

Ex-Milan man Hakan Calhanoglu scored a late penalty before lively substitute Davide Frattesi added the fifth in stoppage time to complete the rout.

Inter return to the top of the table with a perfect four wins from four. Milan are third after suffering their first defeat of the season and have been overtaken by Juventus.

Inter have never won five editions of the Derby della Madonnina in a row before. And what's worse for Milan, all five of those wins have come in 2023 - they just keep on ramming their dominance down the throats of their cross-city rivals.

Many of the games have not been close either, although not to this extent. In addition to a 3-0 Supercoppa Italiana win, there were victories in both legs of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals where the red half of Milan rarely threatened, and a 3-0 aggregate loss that was perhaps even flattering.

And now a 5-1 thumping, the most eye-catching win of the lot and a glowing endorsement of this Inter side. At kick-off both teams had 100% records in Serie A this season and ambitions of winning a 20th title. After 90 minutes, one side looks a real contender and the other a pretender.

On the plus side for Milan, at least they scored against Inter for the first time in five attempts.

Thuram's tenacity set up the first goal and the second was all about his individual brilliance. From there it felt like game over, given how well Inter can defend, and so it proved.

Inter: Sommer 6, Darmian 6, Acerbi 6, Bastoni 6, Dumfries 7, Barella 6, Calhanoglu 7, Mkhitaryan 8, Dimarcro 7, Martinez 7, Thuram 8. Subs: Augusto 6, Frattesi 8, Arnautovic 6, De Vrij 6, Asllani n/a.

AC Milan: Maignan 6, Calabria 5, Thiaw 3, Kjaer 5, Hernandez 5, Krunic 4, Loftus-Cheek 5, Reijnders 5, Pulisic 4, Giroud 5, Leao 7. Subs: Chukwueze 5, Jovic 5, Okafor 5, Florenzi 5, Musah n/a.

GOAL! INTER 1-0 AC MILAN (MKHITARYAN) 5' - Thiaw falls over with Thuram at his back, but play goes on. Thuram drives into the box and gets two bites at the crossing cherry, eventually finding Dimarco. He shoots, it's going wide, but Mkhitaryan stabs into the net and Inter into lead!

GOAL! INTER 2-0 AC MILAN (THURAM) 38' - Inter have a two-on-two break which looks to stall when Dumfries overhits his cross. But Thuram retrieves the ball, takes on Thiaw, beats him enough to have room to shoot and then smashes into the top corner! A brilliant goal - Maignan had no chance.

GOAL! INTER 2-1 AC MILAN (LEAO) 57' - A Giroud through ball sets up Leao, who is too quick for Darmian, and coming in from the left he cooly slots under the goalkeeper to pull a goal back.

GOAL! INTER 1-0 AC MILAN (MKHITARYAN) 69' - Inter score a lovely third on the break! It all starts with a booming cross-field ball from Frattesi to Martinez, who holds the play up on the left then picks a pass to Mkhitaryan, inside the Milan box, and his shot is deflected into the net.

PENALTY TO INTER! 78' - Hernandez takes a swing at the ball but instead kicks Martinez and Inter have a penalty out of nothing.

GOAL! INTER 4-1 AC MILAN (CALHANOGLU) 79' - Calhanoglu scores the penalty, shooting down the middle, to complete Milan's misery.

GOAL! INTER 5-1 AC MILAN (FRATTESI) 90+3' - Frattesi pokes in a fifth goal after a long run and good pass from Mkhitaryan.

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