Milan AC-Inter Milan: Thuram and Pavard impeccable, Hernandez helpless… The tops and flops of the derby

TOPS

Once again, Benjamin Pavard proved indispensable in Inter's 3-man defense on Monday evening, during the victory against AC Milan (1-2). A victory synonymous with the 20th coronation for the Nerazzurri. He blocked all the aerial balls towards Leao but above all, he was able to thwart every time the Milan attackers wanted to overtake him. His tackles on rapid attacks were all decisive and of great class, whether on Leao (27th and 45th), on Hernandez (63rd) or even against Okafor at the end of the match (89th). The icing on the cake is that he deflects the ball towards Acerbi to open the score (19th)

What a performance from the attacker! Often alone on Inter's restarts, he always played accurately. His quality of ball conversation leads to the corner on which Acerbi opens the scoring (19th) but also serenity when Inter found themselves in a difficult situation (84th). When the spaces opened up, he was able to play quickly towards the goal like the action bringing his post (38th) or on his goal, where he recycled a missed pass, returned to his feet (48th).

The man of transitions for Inter. With the ball at his feet, he created panic in the center of the game (37th), and his passes were just as decisive. His ball release for Dimarco (44th) deserved better, as did his pass a little earlier for Thuram which could have been a winner (38th). His exit in the 77th minute changed the fate of the match. Inter were no longer able to get their foot on the ball and conceded numerous chances.

FLOPS

The French full-back was silenced. Very nervous from the start of the match (10th and 23rd), he was unable to make a difference on his left side (Pavard's) apart from a few crosses. His loss of the ball could have cost dearly on the inevitable miss from Martinez (25th). He concluded his match with an expulsion (90 4), symbol of an uncontrolled match.

His goal at the end of the match enhanced his overall performance but he gave goal balls to the inside attackers several times. First of all, he was fooled by Martinez's counter-call on the first shot of the match (8th). He coordinates poorly in the 25th and leaves Martinez free, who should have given Inter two goals in advance. Above all, he is very close to offering a decisive pass to Mkhitaryan (41st) on a completely missed restart.

Generally speaking, the performance of the Serie A runners-up was disappointing. Apart from the last 10 crazy minutes where the Rossonerri were able to project themselves after the numerous Nerazzurri outings, they were eaten. Offensively, they did not find any space, the pressing became disjointed as the minutes went by, the defense was overwhelmed... A match to forget. This is the 4th consecutive match without a victory for Pioli's players.