Inter clinched their 20th Serie A title in memorable fashion on Monday, beating rivals Milan 2-1 in a bad-tempered Derby della Madonnina which saw three players sent off in second-half stoppage time.
Veteran centre-back Francesco Acerbi – who spent a difficult season with Milan in 2012-13 – put the Nerazzurri in the ascendency with a close-range header in the first half, before Marcus Thuram added a well-taken second shortly after half-time.
Fikayo Tomori pounced to drag Milan back into the game, but that was just the 18th goal Inter had conceded in Serie A this season, and their backline held firm in the final 10 minutes to get the job done.
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Inter also finished a man up at 10 versus nine, with Denzel Dumfries and Theo Hernandez both seeing red after clashing in stoppage time, and Davide Calabria following when he hit out at Davide Frattesi.
Those fireworks did nothing to sour Inter’s celebrations as they clinched their first Scudetto since 2020–21, and with five games remaining, Simone Inzaghi’s men could yet pass the 100-point mark.
EYES TO THE SKY ⭐⭐
WE ARE CHAMPIONS OF ITALY 🇮🇹🖤💙#ForzaInter #IM2Stars pic.twitter.com/cMPW7IvNwD— Inter (@Inter_en) April 22, 2024
Former Rossoneri defender Acerbi made the breakthrough 18 minutes in, arriving unmarked to nod home when Benjamin Pavard flicked on Federico Dimarco’s corner.
Lisandro Martinez then came up with one of the misses of the season following more good work from Dimarco, somehow side-footing high and wide when the wing-back’s cross found him in space six yards out.
Rafael Leao worked Yann Sommer at the other end, but that was as close as Milan came during the first half and Inter should have doubled their advantage when Thuram shot against the foot of the post shortly before half-time.
Thuram made no mistake when presented with another sight of goal four minutes into the second half, however. Cutting inside from the left, he reached the edge of the box before wrongfooting Mike Maignan with a clever reverse finish into the bottom corner.
Calabria volleyed over as Milan desperately searched for a way to deny their rivals, and it was game on with 10 minutes remaining. Sommer pushed Matteo Gabbia’s header against the post, but Tomori reacted quickest to nod home from almost on the goal line.
Pavard hacked off the line to deny Noah Okafor a leveller soon afterwards, and that was as close as Milan came.
A game that had long threatened to boil over finally did so in stoppage time, with Dumfries and Hernandez both seeing red following a skirmish on halfway before Calabria threw an arm out at Frattesi to join them in the dressing rooms.
The Inter players celebrated wildly on the pitch as the full-time whistle went, their three-year wait to return to the top of the Italian game over.
A new dictionary entry has been added 📔 #INTERGALACTIC⭐⭐ pic.twitter.com/O80XpiDhwK
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) April 22, 2024
