Inter 2-3 AC Milan: Five things we learned as Milan come back to win the Supercoppa | OneFootball

It’s been a chaotic 10 days for AC Milan to say the least. Paulo Fonseca was sacked and Sergio Conceicao was appointed the very next day, yet he has already found success.

With a couple of days to prepare for the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final against Juventus, the pressure was not really on Milan. Nevertheless, they won 2-1 after going behind initially.

The real test, if the Rossoneri made it there, was always going to be in the final, against a very strong Inter side that dismantled Atalanta to reach the final.

With Rafael Leao not fully ready following his injury and players such as Matteo Gabbia and Tammy Abraham not fully fit due to the flu, Conceicao had to find the solutions fast if Milan were to have a chance at the trophy.

Surprisingly enough the Diavolo faired well in the first half but crumbled in added time with Inter striking fast on the counter and punishing with the last sequence of the half. To make matters worse, the Rossoneri started the second half in the same poor fashion as they ended the first with Taremi doubling Inter’s advantage just two minutes after the start of the second half.

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At that point, many Milan fans might have lost faith given the season and the opponent, but Conceicao reacted fast. Leao was brought on for Alex Jimenez and the impact was instant as the winger earned a dangerous free kick moments after coming on. Theo Hernandez converted said free-kick, halving the deficit just five minutes after Taremi’s goal.

Milan seemed inspired after that, attacking with more courage and creating chances which eventually led to Christian Pulisic’s equaliser in the 80th minute to bring it level.

Chances for both teams followed with Mike Maignan making a huge save to keep it level, but as it was going into penalties Milan made a final push. With 93 minutes on the clock, Abraham was at the right place at the right time to take advantage of Leao’s pass and score the winner.

The goal secured the trophy for his side in what was a stellar performance by the Rossoneri who won their 8th Italian Super Cup equalling Inter’s tally to make the win even sweeter.

Here are five things we observed in the game itself:

1. Theo is back

It’s been a rough half-season for Theo and against Juventus, he was again a culprit for their goal but then recovered after. Against Inter he wasn’t having any of it.

Photo by Abdullah Ahmed/Getty Images

He won the mental battle against Dumfries with the duo continuing their fierce clashes on the left flank. In addition to this, the Frenchman scored the first goal and provided the assist for the second one after an amazing run down the flank.

Defensively he was very solid and he was a constant threat going forward, as proven by his goal contributions, but the desire and running we saw from Theo was exceptional and a sign of the ‘old Theo’.

2. Thiaw and Maignan decisive

Thiaw was at fault for the second goal alongside Tomori, but unlike the Englishman, he performed on the needed level throughout the rest of the game including a crucial block towards the end to help keep it level.

Following that block, Maignan also did his job making a vital save which, in addition to his other numerous saves throughout the game and his ball contribution, made him one of the key figures for Milan on the night as Inter could’ve scored more if he was not at his very best.

3. Another poor performance by Emerson

Overall, the Brazilian was decent enough – he had a couple of good moments going forward and was doing okay at the back as he had lots of help from Musah.

However, he again managed to disappoint as he gifted Inter a throw-in which was executed urgently by the Nerazzurri whilst Emerson was walking with his back turned away. As a result, he completely lost his man and that eventually led to a goal.

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The whole sequence was just ridiculous. With 30 seconds on the clock before the half-time mark, the Brazilian made a poor pass to Jimenez who couldn’t really do much and committed an error giving away the throw-in, but Emerson lost focus with his head seemingly in the locker room already.

A simple pass back to Maignan would’ve avoided so much stress instead of playing the ball into a crowded area.

Milan have definitely not found an upgrade to Calabria in that right-back position and it continues to show as it has done often this season.

4. Attacking trio too much for Inter

Pulisic struggled a bit in the first half, playing on the left without much support from Jimenez and Alvaro Morata, but it all changed after the introduction of Leao and later on Abraham.

With Leao coming on, Pulisic shifted back to the right and he had a bit more space since Inter knew very well that Leao had to be marked closely.

That didn’t help though and talk about impact.

The Portuguese ran wild after coming on, full of energy and desire in both phases of the game. Leao won the free kick that resulted in Theo’s goal, then provided the hockey assist to Theo, again, in the build-up for the second goal.

To top it all off, he made a very good run into the penalty area where he was found by Pulisic and the winger squared it to Abraham, who had the easy job of putting the ball into the back of the net.

A stellar performance by Leao and displays like this are precisely why he gets criticised so often by the Milan fans – because they know how unplayable he can be when the energy is there.

It’s all seemingly clicking with Conceicao too, so hopes are that we will be seeing more of this Leao in the future.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning the impact Abraham had too with the trophy-winning goal. On the surface, it might look like he was at the right place at the right time, but it takes a striker’s instinct to position yourself in the right place and the Englishman deserved this moment.

5. Conceicao magic, again

The players are obviously the ones on the pitch and they get most of the credit when the team is winning, but we should mention the great work Conceicao has done in such a short period.

Credit: AC Milan

To dismiss his effect and say that was purely a reaction to the new coach would be silly, given we are aware of how his Porto played and the truth is that he found a way to allow Milan’s pillars to shine in these two matches.

On top of that, he reacted very well in both games with substitutions – both games were heavily impacted by them and quickly so. He also managed to motivate the players when they were in a negative spot in both halftime breaks and brought a tonne of energy with him that was transferred onto the pitch by his players.

If the first two games are anything to judge by then it will be a fun ride with the former Porto coach at the helm.