Coppa Italia Semifinal: Milan Derby Ends 1-1 as Calhanoglu Responds to Abraham’s Opener

The first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal between AC Milan and Inter Milan ended in a 1-1 draw after Hakan Calhanoglu scored a long-range goal to reply to Tammy Abraham’s opener. With this result, both teams still have an equal chance of advancing to the final.

The match will be the fourth Derby della Madonnina of the season after the Rossoneri’s two previous wins, including a dramatic comeback in the Supercoppa Italiana in January, and a draw with a last-gasp Inter equaliser in February. The second leg will be held on April 23, with the winner facing either Bologna or Empoli in the final.

Milan played without the injured Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Emerson Royal, while Yunus Musah has a cold. However, Rafael Leao returns to the starting XI after missing the Napoli game. Inter have Lautaro Martinez, Mehdi Taremi and Denzel Dumfries out through injury, while Kristjan Asllani is suspended.

Tucu Correa was the first player to threaten the opponent’s goal with a shot that was saved by Mike Maignan from a corner. Meanwhile, Tammy Abraham was instrumental in preventing a goal for Inter by sweeping Stefan de Vrij’s header that was heading towards the Milan goal.

Rafael Leao came close to scoring when Josep Martinez’s powerful shot was palmed away at the near post by his feet. Martinez produced another heroic display, coming off his line to clear before Abraham could meet Tijjani Reijnders’ through ball.

At the other end, Maignan had to work hard to keep out Calhanoglu’s long-range free-kick which almost went under the crossbar. The Milan goalkeeper then made a crucial save at the end of the first half to deny Davide Frattesi’s header which bounced off the ground before heading towards goal.

Milan took the lead straight after the break. After a long spell of possession, Alex Jimenez played a pass to Youssouf Fofana, who fortunately took a deflection off an opponent before falling to Abraham. Without hesitation, the England striker unleashed a powerful shot from a tight angle from eight yards to put Milan 1-0 up.

Inter responded immediately with Nicolo Barella trying his luck with a curling effort that was palmed away by Maignan. However, they eventually managed to equalize through Calhanoglu. Receiving a pass from Correa on the edge of the box, the Turkish midfielder unleashed a low shot that beat Maignan and into the Milan net in the 68th minute.

After this goal, Inter became more aggressive. Maignan was tested twice in quick succession, first by Marcus Thuram who managed to beat Malick Thiaw on the right, then by Nicola Zalewski at the far post after Kyle Walker misjudged the ball.

The Milan goalkeeper once again showed superb reflexes to palm away Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s shot towards the top corner after being set up by Thuram. At the other end, Milan almost took the lead again on the counter-attack when Leao curled a shot just wide of the far post.

Final Result: Milan 1-1 Inter

Goalscorers: 47′ Tammy Abraham (Milan), 68′ Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter)

This result makes the second leg at Giuseppe Meazza even more interesting because both teams still have the same chance to advance to the final.