MILAN: Matteo Gabbia headed home the winner in the closing minutes as AC Milan secured a hard-fought 2-1 victory and local bragging rights over Inter Milan in Serie A on Sunday, while AS Roma thumped Udinese 3-0 as fans protested the shock sacking of Daniele De Rossi.

Defender Gabbia evaded his marker and found the top corner with a perfectly timed header from a free kick into the box in the 89th minute.

The victory lifted some of the pressure on Milan coach Paulo Fonseca following a disappointing start to the campaign, as Milan earned their first win in the Derby della Madonnina since 2022 following six consecutive defeats to Inter.

Milan had won just once in five games in all competitions to spark talk of a crisis, but Sunday’s victory moved them to eight points in Serie A from five games, level with Inter.

“I am so happy for us, for the fans. It was a pretty difficult moment where things weren’t going well, but I am sure this game will give us a real energy boost,” Gabbia told DAZN. “It is our duty to give our all. There are negative moments in life and in careers, we must make sure that we dont have regrets at the final whistle and thats what happened today. We are always by the side of the coach, despite what is said outside.”

Christian Pulisic opened the scoring for Milan in the 10th minute with a solo effort. The American forward skilfully navigated through Inter’s defence, surged into the box, and fired a precise shot past goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Inter levelled in the 27th minute when captain Lautaro Martinez set up Federico Dimarco, who found space on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful strike into the back of the net.

Both Inter’s Sommer and Milan’s Mike Maignan made several crucial saves throughout the match until Gabbia snatched the winner. “We had the wrong approach and weren’t enough of a team, which is rare for us,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi. “We didn’t start either half with the right attitude.”

Goals from Artem Dovbyk, Paulo Dybala and Tommaso Baldanzi gave Roma their first win of the season against Udinese who had been surprise leaders before this weekend but drop down to third, a point behind Torino.

But the match was a sideshow due to the vociferous protests at De Rossi’s dismissal on Wednesday which will continue unless new coach Ivan Juric can ensure continue with the sort of display which moved Roma up to 10th on six points.

“The boys were very sad about Daniele being fired, they were very honest about it and I appreciated that,” said Juric after the match.

Supporters hurled abuse at the team from the stands while the entire Curva Sud section of the Olimpico, where the hardcore supporters stand, was empty for the first half an hour of the match.

By the time those fans started pouring into the stadium Roma were ahead thanks to Dovbyk’s goal, but that didn’t stop loud chants of De Rossi’s name ringing around the stadium.

Dybala extended the advantage four minutes into the second half, calmly converting a penalty following a foul by Jaka Bijol.

In the 70th minute Baldanzi scored Roma’s third goal to end their four-match winless streak and alleviate tensions within the club after a difficult start to the season.

The anger at De Rossi being fired has been such that CEO Lina Souloukou, who resigned on Saturday morning, had been placed under police protection after online threats made against her and family.

Earlier, Albert Gudmu­ndsson netted a brace of penalties on his Fiorentina debut to fire his new team to their first win of the campaign, 2-1 against Lazio.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2024