AC Milan wins Derby della Madonnina 1-0 to cut Inter’s lead in Serie A to 7 points
AC Milan isn’t ready to yield to city rival Inter Milan in the Serie A title race.
Pervis Estupinan scored the winner as Milan beat Inter 1-0 again in the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday.
The Rossoneri cut their city rival’s lead to seven points with 10 rounds of the season remaining, setting off joyous celebrations in the San Siro while Inter’s players questioned the referee for ruling out what would have been a very late equalizer.
Inter had the ball in the net in stoppage time after a quickly taken corner, but it was too quick for the referee, who hadn’t given the go-ahead for it to be taken and blew his whistle before the ball crossed the line.
Inter had won its last eight Serie A games since a 2-2 draw with Napoli on January 11, and was 15 games unbeaten in the league since the last derby, also won 1-0 by Milan, in November.
Youssouf Fofana played Estupinan through on the left and the Ecuador left back let fly with a powerful shot to the back of the net for what proved to be the winner in the 35th minute, just after Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed a great chance for Inter at the other end.
Mkhitaryan was one of three Inter players against two Milan defenders, but he was unable to beat Mike Maignan in the Milan goal.
Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni earned the game’s first yellow card for a clear foul on Adrien Rabiot. Both players needed treatment and Bastoni was to rue the challenge as he was unable to continue.
The tireless Luka Modric was booked for Milan late on.
Inter was without Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez, who watched from the substitutes’ bench.
Inter stayed on 67 points and second-place Milan moved to 60. Defending champion Napoli is third with 56 points.
Genoa thwarts Roma.
Portuguese forward Vitinha scored for Daniele De Rossi’s Genoa in a 2-1 upset win over Roma, dealing the visitors another blow in their quest for Champions League qualification.
Roma’s loss comes after last week’s 3-3 draw with Juventus, which is just a point behind in the fight for fourth place.
Roma and Como are level on 51 points, and though Como has the better goal difference, Roma won their encounter earlier in the season and head-to-head will be the determining factor if they finish level. Roma visits Como next weekend. The top four qualify for Europe’s premier club competition.
Junior Messias fired Genoa ahead from the penalty spot early in the second half.
Evan Ndicka quickly responded for Roma before Vitinha scored in the 80th, five minutes after going on as a substitute, to give the team coached by former Roma great De Rossi its second straight win at home.
Genoa climbed to 13th: Also Sunday, Fiorentina drew with Parma 0-0, leaving it just outside the relegation zone, and Verona came from behind to win 2-1 at Bologna.
Earlier, Lecce defeated Cremonese 2-1 at home to leapfrog the visitors and leave them in the relegation zone in their place.
