INTER MILAN hammered rivals AC Milan to lift the Supercoppa Italia in Riyadh, kick-starting a huge week for football in Saudi Arabia.
Goals from Federico Dimarco, former Manchester City man Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez claimed a resounding victory for I Nerazzurri over their bitter rivals in this bizarre Milan derby.
The final, between Scudetto winners Milan and Coppa Italia champs Inter is the curtain raiser for a huge week in Riyadh, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi facing off in the same King Fahd Stadium on Thursday night before CR7 makes his official debut for Al Nassr on Sunday.
Simone Inzaghi’s side were quick out of the blocks with Dimarco opening the scoring after just ten minutes.
A clever first time ball from Dzeko in behind the Milan backline, which featured ex-Chelsea man Fikayo Tomori, had Nicolo Barella free to square for flying full-back Dimarco, who raced onto the cross and blasted home.
Inter’s lead was quickly doubled thanks to a fine finish from veteran forward Dzeko.
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The 36-year-old, starting ahead of Romelu Lukaku as he returned from injury, raced down the left and chopped the ball inside before sliding a low finish into the far corner.
Milan rallied after the break with Rafael Leao testing Andrea Onana from range, only for Martinez to kill the game with a stunning goal.
A month to the day after the forward won the World Cup across the Gulf in Qatar, Inter’s No10 barged his way past Tomori to latch onto a long ball before bending it in at the far post with the outside of his boot.
The Argentine paid tribute to his World Cup winning captain by racing over to the Inter fans, taking his shirt off and holding it up to them – just as Messi did for Barcelona after scoring against Real Madrid.
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While both Milan sides had a loyal following at each end of the ground, it was far from a sellout.
But who could blame locals, with the main event to come just 24 hours later.
There will not be an empty seat in the house when Ronaldo captains a one-off all star side made up of players from his new employers Al Nassr and Al Hilal, the club who tried to sign him from Manchester United in the summer.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
