Inter’s dramatic draw allows Milan to stay top after Maldini magic
MILAN: Inter Milan missed the chance to go top of Serie A after a thrilling 2-2 draw with Atalanta which allowed city rivals AC Milan to hold onto first place with their 2-1 win at Spezia, in which Daniel Maldini continued a family dynasty.
Champions Inter sit third, two points behind leaders Milan, after a breathless match at the San Siro which ended with substitute Federico Dimarco hitting the bar with an 86th minute penalty and Roberto Piccoli then having a lastgasp winner for Atalanta ruled out amid frantic protests from the away side.
Atalanta are fifth following the draw which highlighted the attacking threat and the clear intention from Gian Piero Gasperini’s side to continue to punch above their weight in Italy’s top flight.
“We’ve got a bitter taste from the draw, we feel that we could have had more,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi told DAZN.
“We fell apart a bit after the penalty, but we were excellent in much of the first half and the second against a very good Atalanta team.”
Lautaro Martinez put Inter ahead in the fifth minute with a superb first-time finish before a Ruslan Malinovskyi missile on the half hour and Rafael Toloi’s rebound effort eight minutes later stunned the home fans.
Atalanta could easily have extended their lead early in the second half, with Malinovskyi hitting the post and having a close range effort saved while Jose Luis Palomino should have done better with his close range header from a corner.
Inter reacted and Edin Dzeko levelled the scores in the 71st minute when Juan Musso pushed Dimarco’s low shot out to the waiting Bosnia forward to tap home.
However, the real drama came in the final 10 minutes as local boy Dimarco lined up for his penalty, given after Merih Demiral handled as Dzeko lined up a header.
Their disappointment turned to despondency when Piccoli’s weak shot squirmed under Samir Handanovic’s hand, only for the whole ground to break out into a huge roar when the goal was chalked off for the ball crossing the byline in the build up.