Inter boss Inzaghi suggests Milan benefitted from luck but are ‘tough to play against’ | OneFootball

Inter boss Simone Inzaghi shared his thoughts after their draw with AC Milan last night, praising their second-half performance.

In the end, it was a 1-1 draw that postpones everything to the second leg of the semi-final on April 23. Both goals came in the second half, with Tammy Abraham opening the scoring early on before Hakan Calhanoglu equalised with a rocket of a shot from distance.

Both sides will have a bittersweet feeling from the game. Milan had the lead and will perhaps feel they should have beaten an under-strength Inter, especially in the ‘home’ leg, while the Nerazzurri were guilty of missing chances and at times giving the ball away carelessly.

Nonetheless, as Arrigo Sacchi said, both teams will get another crack in a 50-50 second leg. Inzaghi was interviewed by SportMediaset after the full-time whistle and he gave his thoughts after what was a hard-fought and at times quite open derby, with his comments relayed by Football Italia.

Was the draw deserved?

“It was a derby. We could’ve gone in front in the first half with the De Vrij chance and the Frattesi move, then Milan had that incident to give them the lead straight after the restart.

“I believe it ultimately helped us, because then our second half performance was better than the first, we created so many scoring opportunities against a Milan side that is tough to play against.

“I liked the performance from my players with a lot of sacrifices. There were only 14 outfield players available, because Marko Arnautovic and Federico Dimarco were in no condition to come off the bench. I had some youth team players who were ready, so I asked everyone to push a little harder.

“I saw the first goal, there was an incredible ricochet between Thuram and Frattesi, the ball hung in the right place for Abraham and landed at his feet. I got angry at the time, but then I saw what happened on the replay.

“We had so many chances afterwards, Maignan made some excellent saves on Mkhitaryan and Zalewski.”

Is it a draw that satisfies you given the return leg is in three weeks?

“We knew that this was only the first leg, we hope to have more choices in three weeks’ time. We will travel to Parma in 48 hours, so we couldn’t take any unnecessary risks with our players.

“We fought so hard to keep everything going in April, we played every match to the full. My dream as a coach is to have all the players available, hopefully Dimarco and Arnautovic can be available, we’re waiting for our captain and Dumfries, then we’ll see what happens.

“My players are so eager to give their all for this jersey, it really makes me proud to be their coach.”

How do you think Marcus Thuram and Correa did?

“They had played together against Verona in October or November, they did very well, but then we had problems for Correa, followed by Thuram, so I hadn’t used them together again.

“I do like them as a pair, because they are complementary, Correa drops deeper and Thuram attacks the space. They made a sacrifice today in a very physical game, because they knew I had no other options in attack.”