RIYADH: Tammy Abraham grabbed a late winner as AC Milan came from two goals down to beat defending champions Inter Milan 3-2 and lift the Italian Super Cup trophy in Riyadh on Monday.
Inter looked on course for a fourth consecutive trophy in the tournament after goals from Lautaro Martinez and and Mehdi Taremi either side of the break in Saudi Arabia.
But in a repeat of their 2-1 come-from-behind win against Juventus in the semi-final Milan returned transformed after the break.
To add to the Inter’s woes the reigning Serie A champions lost Hakan Calhanoglu to a muscular injury just after half an hour with Kristjan Asllani coming on in place of the Turkish midfielder.
Theo Hernandez revived AC Milan hopes with a free kick after 52 minutes as they chased a first trophy under new coach Sergio Conceicao.
US winger Christian Pulisic grabbed the equaliser with 10 minutes to go with English forward Abraham sealing the winner after 93 minutes to give his side the trophy for the eighth time and first since 2016.
Three-time defending champions Inter had dominated Atalanta 2-0 on Thursday in the Super Cup semis staged in Saudi Arabia for the third year in a row.
AC Milan’s eighth Italian Super Cup trophy moves them equal with Inter and behind Juventus who have won the tournament a record nine times.
The game was preceded by a spectacular light show at the King Saud University Stadium but the match only really sparked into life in the final seconds of the opening half.
Taremi teed up Martinez with a pass across the box and the forward used some neat footwork to deceive Malick Thiaw before firing a low shot through the legs of Hernandez which beat Mike Maignan at his near post.
Two minutes after the interval Inter continued where they had left off. Stefan de Vrij played a long ball over the top which Taremi controlled beautifully and he drilled his shot into the bottom corner to double their advantage.
Milan responded by sending on Rafael Leao, who immediately won a free kick just outside the area which Hernandez curled low around the wall and the ball crept just inside the post to re-open the tie.
Milan found the equaliser with 10 minutes remaining. Christian Pulisic, surrounded by three Inter players, controlled a cross from Hernandez and steered his shot into the far corner and it looked like the tie would be decided by a shootout, with no extra time to be played.
Milan, however, continued to press and they were rewarded when Leao pulled the ball back across the goal and Abraham, another substitute, was there for the simplest of tap-ins to break Inter hearts.
Conceicao, who replaced the sacked Paulo Fonseca last week, celebrated wildly with his players, while the Inter team slumped to the floor in disbelief.
“The team has character, it managed to win games against two great teams in the end,” Conceicao told Mediaset. “At halftime the coach has to change certain things, that’s why they pay me.”
The manager also picked up an injury and needed treatment on the bench before rejoining his team.
“Emerson Royal made a red card tackle on me,” Conceicao said with a laugh.
After the win over Juventus, Conceicao had said that he was not a nice person, and did not smile much, but in the dressing room after lifting the Super Cup, the manager danced while smoking a cigar as the celebrations continued.
“At the end of the game the players immediately told me that I had to smoke a cigar; they knew that I do this ritual when I lift a title,” Conceicao told a press conference.
Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025
