Riyadh: The Supercoppa Italiana and the bragging rights went to Inter.
In front of a crowd of over 51,000 at the King Fahd International Stadium, the Italian Cup holders defeated Serie A champions AC Milan 3–0 to lift the third showpiece final to be played in the kingdom.
This was no mid-season, warm-weather friendly.
For a start, the temperature inside the King Fahd International Stardom had dropped to 9C and more importantly, any derby match between these two city rivals is anything but cold, and certainly then Not when the first trophy of the season is on the field. Line.
The teams moved into second place in the Serie A standings with Milan on 38 points, nine behind leaders Napoli, while Inter are fourth on 37 points, behind Juventus on goal difference.
Inter started on the front foot with a promising free-kick after four minutes when World Cup winner Lautaro Martínez smashed it straight over the defensive wall. But his fans in the stadium didn’t have to wait long for the success.
Only 10 minutes into the match, Nicola Barella broke free on the right side of the Milan penalty area and passed the ball to Federico DiMarco, whose left end gave Ciprian Tatarusanu no chance to score.
The Serie A champions had the best chance of the half on 18 minutes when Portugal international Rafael Leao’s curling shot from a tight angle was turned by Andre Onana for a corner.
Inter took full advantage of a late three-minute let-off, Edin Dzeko showing great skill to cut in with his right foot and slide the ball past Tatarusanu before receiving the ball from Alessandro Bastoni inside the Milan penalty box; 2-0 and the Rossoneri were in danger of embarrassment.
Inter were now unfettered, and on the half-hour DiMarco scored his second of the match after taking advantage of another careless mistake in Milan’s defence, but his fierce left-footed shot was pushed over by Tatarusanu.
Martínez had a chance to put Néch to bed in stoppage time but mis-controlled the ball on goal and Inter had to be content with a two-goal lead at the break.
Milan were clearly on the mend in the early stages of the second half and Leão had a golden chance to reduce the deficit, but he scored after finding himself inside the Inter penalty area. Ismail Benesar also had an eye on the Inter goal but shot straight at Onana.
On 65 minutes, Milan coach Stefano Pioli brought on Charles de Ketelaire, Divock Origi and Pierre Kalulu for Brahim Diaz, Junior Messias and Simon Kjaer as they looked to reinforce their dominance.
Milan continued to press, but were finding clear chances with Leão in particular resorting to several long-range shots, which were either blocked by the Inter defenders or easily collected by Onana.
With 20 minutes left, Simeone replaced Barella and Dzeko with Roberto Gagliardini and Joaquin Correa to inject more life into Inter’s attack, but the match continued to follow the same script: Milan’s superior possession rarely That translated into goal chances.
Then, 77 minutes later, Martínez overturned an earlier poor individual performance with a superb finish with the outside of his right foot to give Inter a 3–0 lead.
The Argentine striker celebrated by taking his shirt off in front of Inter fans celebrating behind the goal, with his upcoming booking barely reaching any conclusion.
“Ole, ole, ole, inter, inter,” sang those in black and blue.
There was now no way back for Milan, and the rest of the match was played to a background of celebration by Inter supporters.
The final marked Inter’s seventh Italian Super Cup victory, equaling the record of their defeated opponents. Juventus, with nine wins, remains the competition’s record title holder.
As the lights dimmed inside the stadium, the Inter players joined their fans in jubilant celebration, a sign of how much the trophy meant to them.