Has the weekend´s Milan derby decided the Serie A title race?
By:Ian
2010-01-29
One of the best betting bonuses Serie A fans may have had, in particular fans of Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, will be the news that the race for the Scudetto this season has arguably been shaped irrevocably this weekend, after Inter Milan’s 2-0 victory over city rivals AC Milan.
The game was always likely to define the second half of the season for both clubs. AC Milan boss Leonardo had led his side to an improved showing this season and they had slowly hauled in Inter Milan, who had been something of runaway league leaders during the early part of the season. No doubt a great many punters saw this and had backed Inter to lift the title once again this season.
However over time Milan had reduced the gap and before the game on Sunday, Milan were just six points behind Inter Milan, with a game in hand. Victory against their rivals would have reduced the gap to just three points, with the Rossonieri having a game in hand.
Although the game was played at the San Siro, Milan were technically the ‘away’ team for the fixture. Not that this would have worried them unduly, especially with the form shown by Ronaldinho in his last outing against Siena, when the Brazilian scored an outstanding hattrick and glimpses of the form that had him being labelled the world’s greatest player just a few years ago.
There was also talk of reversing the embarrassing 4-0 defeat Milan suffered on Day two of the season at the hands of their fierce rivals. Inter too were weakened by the absence of Samuel Eto’o who was in Angola with Cameroon for the African Cup of Nations. You’d have been forgiven for thinking that this match was Milan’s for the taking.
Therefore the fact that Inter won the game 2-0, comfortably, despite playing most of the game with ten men, and finishing with nine, emphasises the gulf in class that exists between the two teams at the moment. From the moment Wesley Sneijder crashed a stunning volley off the post on four minutes, the writing was on the wall and there was little surprise when Diego Milito fired Inter in front after a mistake by Abate.
Milan’s hopes were ignited when Sneijder saw red on 26 minutes, the Dutchman controversially sent to the dressing room with a straight red card after sarcastically applauding the referee’s decision to award Lucio a yellow card for diving.
Milan did press hard for the equaliser before and after the interval, their best chance a Seedorf header from close range, that was superbly saved by Cesar but Inter always looked dangerous on the counter and when the veteran Favalli brought down Maicon on the edge of the box, they paid the ultimate price when Goran Pandev, a recent signing from Lazio, curled home a fantastic free kick into the top corner of the Milan net.
Milan pushed hard for the goal to get them back into the game but Inter’s resilience in defence was admirable and not even a last minute penalty, given for a handball by Lucio for which the Brazilian received a red card, could redeem the home side, Ronaldinho seeing his injury time penalty saved by Cesar. It mattered little as by then the game was effectively over and Inter claimed the three points which may well confirm them as champions come the end of the season.
Milan still have a game in hand and can narrow the gap to six points, but they are going to have to be a great deal more ruthless in front of goal if they are to stop all those punters, who so eagerly backed Inter at the start of the season for the Scudetto, collecting their winnings.
