AC Milan lost to Inter Milan for the third time this year after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to their arch-rivals in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal clash.

The first meeting between both sides this year was a 3-0 win for Inter in the Super Coppa Italiana final in January, while AC Milan lost again 1-0 in the next month in the Seria A before Wednesday’s semifinal.

Two quickfire goals in the first 12 minutes of the game would go on to settle the first leg as Edin Dzeko opened the scoring on the eight-minute dot while Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubled the advantage three minutes later.

The first half was not short of drama as a penalty call almost made it 3-0 in favour of inter, although a VAR check overturned it. Before that, Inter Milan could have made it 3-0 had Hakan Calhanoglu’s shot not hit the woodwork.

Both Inter and AC Milan share the San Siro, and with AC Milan designated as the home team for the first leg, he had the majority of the supporters in the stadium. That did not work in their favour as Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko smashed home a volley very early to tilt the momentum in Inter’s favour.

The return leg comes up at the same stadium next Tuesday, and a draw would be enough to see Inter Milan through; maybe they would make the fan advantage count as they would have the higher number of designated fans being the home side for the second leg at the San Siro.

Man of the match and one of Inter’s goalscorers on the night, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, said the team had the desire for the win.

“From the very first minute, we played with a desire to win. We scored two goals in the first half. We controlled the game more in the second half, but we won. Great credit to my teammates, but it’s not over; we need to prepare as best as we can for the second leg.” Mkhitaryan said.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu