Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has won plaudits for his performance against his old side AC Milan in the derby.
L’Interista highlight that the player ratings for the 29-year-old have been unanimously positive across Italian media.
Calhanoglu has started to gain a real taste for the Milan derby playing in an Inter shirt. The Turk made the switch across the city divide in the summer of 2021. He joined the Nerazzurri on a free transfer.
And he wasted no time winning over his new fans. As well as earning the ire of his old supporters. Calhanoglu virtually “announced” himself as an Inter player with his penalty against the Rossoneri in his first Milan derby playing for the Nerazzurri.
And yesterday evening, the 29-year-old once again found the back of the net against his former team.
Calhanoglu was clinical from the spot, wrong-footing Rossoneri keeper Mike Maignan. It was yet another moment in which the Turk showed how he seems to relish rising to the occasion against the team that he represented for four seasons.
Hakan Calhanoglu Praised For Rising To The Occasion Vs AC Milan
Calhanoglu’s penalty was hardly the only way that he impacted yesterday evening’s derby.
The 29-year-old showed the intense defensive effort that’s become one of his hallmarks since converting to a deep-lying position.
The Turk did wind up in the book, a reflection of perhaps too much zeal as he committed a few fouls. But this was only a side effect of Calhanoglu’s determination to deny space to dangerous Rossoneri midfielders like Tijani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
And Calhanoglu was, as he has often been, at the heart of Inter’s direct and incisive possession game.
The Gazzetta dello Sport give the Inter midfielder a score of 7.5/10. Tuttosport go even higher, at 8/10.
Meanwhile, the Corriere dello Sport, TuttoMercatoWeb, and L’Interista all award Calhanoglu a score of 7/10.
