One of the biggest matches in world football, Derby Della Madonnina always guarantees a majestic clash and never disappoints. In the 2005-06 season, Roberto Mancini led an Inter side who were the underdogs going into the clash at San Siro since they had not won the derby since 2002. However, the team was going into the match confident on the back of three straight wins in the league and were in good position to challenge AC Milan and change their recent derby form.
Carlo Ancelotti led AC Milan after a flying start to their 2005-06 campaign, were struggling going into the highly anticipated match, losing two out of last three Serie A matches. Raising the stakes of the derby even more, was that Christian Vieri had signed for AC Milan after making a controversial switch following six glorious seasons with the Nerazzurri.
Going into the match, Ancelotti was looking to increase the two-point gap against Inter while Mancini was focused on bringing the three points home and overtake their arch rivals in the standings going into winter break. With the scudetto implications and Milanese bragging rights at stake, both teams started the game aggressively, showing great attacking intent. Milan had lined up in their traditional 4-3-1-2 formation with Shevchenko and Gilardino in attack with Kaka right behind them. Gattuso, Seedorf, Pirlo in the midfield and Kaladze, Nesta, Stam, Serginho in defense and Dida in goal.
To counter Ancelotti’s line-up, Mancini had Inter starting in a 4-4-2 formation with Obafemi Martins and Adriano in attack, Figo, Cambiasso, Stankovic, Veron in the middle, Samuel, Cordoba, Zanetti, Favalli in defense and Julio Cesar in goal. Inter started out playing the ball through the wings and looking to cross the ball into the middle for Adriano while Milan mounted their counter-attack through the middle, looking for Kaka and Pirlo to create chances for Shevchenko.
Both defenses held strong earlier on as neither side was able to take an early lead. Jaap Stam had so far managed to hold off Adriano, however Obafemi Martins’ pace was giving Nesta some trouble earlier on and Inter were looking to exploit this on counter-attacks. The trick finally worked when Cambiasso-Adriano combination found an open Obafemi Martins behind the defense and caused Nesta to hold him inside the penalty box to prevent a clear scoring opportunity. Referee immediately pointed to the spot and Adriano smashed home the penalty to give Inter a lead.
As play resumed, Inter continued to enjoy more possession than Milan who had majority of their scoring opportunities on the counter attack as Kaka ran through the defense looking for Shevchenko and Gilardino. Around thirty-eight minute mark, Inter conceded a free-kick on a counter-attack when Cordoba brought down Gilardino right outside the penalty area. Pirlo’s free-kick attempt led to a penalty as Stankovic hand-ball foul inside the box gave rossoneri a chance to bring both teams on level terms. Shevchenko converted the penalty and the game remained in balance going into half-time at 1-1.
When play resumed in second-half, both teams took a more cautious approach in attack. Milan made a half-time adjustment and instead of only building up play straight through the middle, they were now looking to cross the ball more into the box by getting Stam and Nesta into the box in search of the second goal. Tempers had started flaring between players, Kaka and Veron had a heated exchange and had to be separated. Both teams looking to one-up each other, neither letting anything go, fighting tooth and nail for the derby win. Break-through finally came for Inter when Adriano was brought down thirty-yards out by Stam. Following a vicious free-kick by Adriano, Dida only managed to parry it straight to Martins who scored an easy tap-in to give Inter a 2-1 lead.
Looking to close out the match and preserve the lead, Mancini brought on Burdisso for Figo. With Milan search for the tying goal, Ancelotti brought on former Inter striker Christian Vieri to replace Gilardino. Interisti did not hold back in letting Vieri know how they felt about his controversial free transfer to AC Milan as the whistles and boos from the crowd were deafening at San Siro. The lead did not last long for Inter, as Jaap Stam headed home the equalizing goal at eighty-three minute mark from a Pirlo free-kick.
With the game coming to a close with score at 2-2, it seemed as if neither team will take home three points. However, with the seconds ticking off the clock into injury time, Adriano scored from a corner-kick to give Inter 3-2 win, their first in ten games against their arch rivals. It was poetic justice, considering it was Christian Vieri who failed to clear the ball and conceded the goal to Adriano. Curva Nord roared at San Siro as Mancini and Nerazzurri celebrated a dramatic win in the Derby Della Madonnina to jump ahead of AC Milan in the league table.
Highlights – Inter 3 – 2 Milan: