In what has been a terrible season for the seven-time European champions, AC Milan supporters had something to cheer about.
With a brace in Wednesday’s resounding 3-0 derby victory over Inter Milan, Luka Jovic propelled AC Milan to the Italian Cup final, advancing his team 4-1 overall. Tijjani Reijnders sealed the match late on, and Serbian forward Jovic doubled his season goal total, giving Milan supporters something to celebrate after the seven-time European champions’ terrible season. Milan, who defeated Inter in the January Super Cup final, are undefeated in all five of this season’s local derbies. Wednesday’s victory also put an end to Inter’s ambitions of reclaiming the Serie A, Champions League, and Cup triple that they had won under Jose Mourinho in 2010.
Jovic has been putting in a lot of effort, especially over the past three or four weeks. “It helps that he’s lost a little weight,” coach Sergio Conceicao told Mediaset.
“He provides us with everything we needed for this game; each forward has a unique set of skills. He doesn’t provide defenders with much.
Conceicao’s team will probably play Bologna in the final in Rome next month. They are currently in ninth place in Serie A and will most likely not play in the Champions League next season.
Bologna is on track to make it to a major event final for the first time since they last won the cup in 1974, leading Empoli 3-0 going into their second leg on Thursday.
Conceicao continued, “We haven’t won it yet, but we’re happy to be in the final.”
“The players are the same as they were a few days before, and neither am I a different coach. Just as it wasn’t all horrible before, it’s not like everything is fantastic now.”
Jovic defeats Inter
As the nominal away team’s first chance of the match, Jovic’s powerful header on Alex Jimenez’s cross in the 38th minute gave Milan the lead and the tie. He was given a rare start.
Prior to Jovic opening the score and the 27-year-old extending Milan’s aggregate lead three minutes after halftime, Federico Dimarco had struck the bar and Lautaro Martinez had hammered a fantastic chance over.
After Inter failed to handle a simple corner, Jovic jumped to score from close range, forcing Inter coach Simone Inzaghi to make four quick substitutes, all of which were in vain.
Instead, Reijnders, who had been slipped in by Rafael Leao, rolled home with a first-time finish five minutes from the end to give Milan a resounding victory.
After booking a Champions League semi-final matchup against Barcelona last week, Inter had real hopes of winning the treble, so their elimination at the hands of their local rivals is a major setback.
However, after losing to Bologna over the weekend, Inter is now tied with Napoli for the top spot in Serie A and may easily finish an outstanding season without winning anything.
With Champions League contenders Roma coming to the San Siro on Sunday before the first leg of their last-four matchup with Barcelona, which may still make or break their season, Inzaghi’s team has a busy and difficult final stretch.
