What a difference a year makes. Almost 12 months to the day Mauro Icardi missed a penalty against Cagliari that sparked jubilant celebrations in the Curva Nord at San Siro. Appiano Gentile was a war zone as Icardi and the Curva were openly feuding due to an excerpt in the Inter captain’s autobiography, which portrayed the Argentine striker in a heroic light in dealing with the ultras.

The Curva did not take kindly to what they felt was a fabrication of the truth and an ominous storm cloud hovered over the club for the rest of the season raining down on the club’s Champions League aspirations.

One year later, Icardi found himself at the penalty spot once more with the game hanging in the balance. But this time he made no mistake, sending Gigi Donnarumma the wrong way and the Meazza into ecstasy to cap off a three-goal performance that Interisti will tell their grandchildren about.

To say Icardi won the game single-handedly would be stretching the truth as Antonio Candreva, Ivan Perisic and Milan Skriniar all contributed to Inter’s cause, but to merely state he played a prominent role in the victory wouldn’t be doing his performance any justice. He was absolutely magnificent.

Icardi became the first player to score three goals in the Derby della Madonnina since Diego Milito did the trick in 2012. Icardi set the tone by redirecting Candreva’s low pinpoint cross for the opener and was a constant menace to the Milan defense with his movement off the ball.

Maurito’s second goal will go down in the annals of Inter history. With the game deadlocked at 1-1, Icardi produced an exquisite finish that most of us can only conjure up in our most wildly optimistic daydreams.

The Argentine international tracked back into his own half to dispossess Lucas Biglia of the ball before ending Inter’s lightning counterattack with a front scissor kick while suspended in mid-air. It was breathtaking, it defied belief but Roberto Scarpini still screamed it was 2-1 for Inter.

After Milan equalized, Icardi kept his nerve from the spot in one of the biggest moments of his career to complete his hat-trick and hand the Nerazzurri a memorable 3-2 win over their rivals.

“Taking home the match ball is a special feeling that I can’t describe,” he told reporters. “I told some of my teammates that I had to score against Milan so I’m holding this ball dear to me.”

Icardi has shot ahead of some of his rivals as evidenced by Paulo Dybala’s penalty miss in almost the same circumstances the day before in the loss to Lazio but Maurito still has his detractors.

“I let the critics talk and then I do what I need to on the field. I’m pleased for this victory.”

His critics recite the same old tired complaints. ‘Icardi is immature, he’s a dressing room cancer and an entitled misfit.’ These accusations are akin to anti vaxxers who believe vaccines cause autism. This has been thoroughly debunked and only the desperate, the ill informed and those with an agenda keep on perpetuating the myth.

He’s been ostracized for a youthful transgression that he owned up to. He didn’t ditch Wanda at the first sign of trouble; he married her and then started a family, but people still want to portray his as the bad guy. Here’s who Icardi is: he’s the present captain of Inter, who is trying to put the past behind him and lead his team back among the Italian and European elite.

He’s doing an admirable job too, but we find ourselves immersed in a social media-driven celebrity culture that churns out daily drama. The machine must create soap operas to remain functional.

We are living in an era where ever-demanding fanbases expect perfection from their stars week in and week out, with no off-games allowed.

A ‘what have you done for me lately’ attitude runs rampant and wild in modern football, but Icardi has delivered with nine goals in eight games, and at 24 years old, the best is yet to come.

Max De Luca is a journalist based in Toronto, Canada and has been published on Reuters, CBC, Yahoo, Goal, USA Today and many more. Every week Max pens a column exclusively for SempreInter.com discussing the most pressing topics of the past week.

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