Theo Hernandez, a French defender for AC Milan, and Olivier Giroud, a French attacker for AC Milan, celebrate after Hernandez scores his team’s second goal against Lazio on May 6, 2023 at the San Siro stadium in Milan. The match took place in the San Siro stadium. (R) Federico Dimarco, an Italian defender for Inter Milan, scores the game’s first goal on May 6, 2023 against AS Rome at the Olympic stadium in Rome. Federico Dimarco then celebrates his goal with his teammates. Photos: AFP
Both AC Milan and Inter Milan defeated Roman teams by identical scores of 2-0 to momentarily switch positions atop the Serie A standings in advance of their showdown in the Champions League semi-final.
With a victory over Lazio at home in the early game, Milan made a short ascent to fourth position, passing Inter in the process. Lazio was in second place at the time.
“We put forth a fantastic performance. According to the coach of Milan, Stefano Pioli, “Now there is plenty of time to recover before the semi-final match against Inter.”
After that, Inter climbed back up to fourth place after winning away at Roma, which kept Jose Mourinho’s squad outside of the top four in their division. Simone Inzaghi, the coach of Inter, predicted that the semi-final match of the Champions League will be “a showdown played over 180 minutes.”
Ismael Bennacer pounced on a loose ball inside the AC Milan penalty area against Lazio and blasted his shot in to give AC Milan the lead in the 17th minute at the San Siro. On the outside of the Milan penalty area, wingback Theo Hernandez gathered a roll-out pass from goalkeeper Mike Maignan after 29 minutes of play.
After brushing off an early challenge, the Frenchman went unimpeded deep into the Lazio half of the field and then hammered a sinking 30-meter shot past Ivan Provedel to score.
Although Toma Basic had a chance to score from close range in the final seconds of the match, Lazio could not able to get a shot on goal. The first leg of the Champions League semi-final between the two Milan teams is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, and both clubs appeared to have one eye on that match.
After ten minutes, Milan took Rafael Leao off the field. The winger complained to the bench that he was having thigh pain, and after some deliberation, he was taken off the field to be replaced.
Pioli said, “He came to a complete and timely stop.” “Let’s see what tomorrow brings. At the end of the match, he was calm, and he reported that he felt okay. I do not believe that this is a very major issue.
Against an injury-plagued Roma team, Inter started several of their typical offensive players on the bench. Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan did not participate in any part of the game, while Lautauro Martinez did not enter the action until the last half an hour.
Left back The first goal for Inter was scored by Federico Dimarco after 33 minutes, while Romelu Lukaku added a second goal for Inter in the 74th minute. Inzaghi stated that the alterations he made were done to reflect the squad’s current state of health.
“Now I have the chance to choose and rotate both in midfield and in attack,” he added. “I’m really excited about this.”
The Roma have their sights set on Europe as well. They maintained their seventh place standing, five points behind Inter in the race for the last Champions League spot. However, they still have a shot of making it into the Champions League if they win the Europa League. On Thursday, Roma will play host to Leverkusen in the first leg of a semifinal match. At the sound of the final whistle, Mourinho pulled all of his players together on the pitch.
“I thanked them for their efforts, the efforts of those who are exhausted, of those who played on one leg, of the one who played with broken ribs or after an injection,” he added. “I thanked them for the efforts of those who are exhausted, of those who played on one leg.”
“I am going home beaming with pride. On Thursday, you may expect to see us there.
Their neighbors, Lazio, remained in second place behind the recently crowned champions from Napoli, but they are in danger of falling to third place if Juventus are victorious on the road against Atalanta on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, Genoa won 2-1 over Ascoli on the road in Serie B, clinching their promotion to the Serie A immediately after the match.
There are still two rounds of games to go, but Genoa has extended their lead over third-place Bari by eight points after Bari’s 1-1 draw against Modena. Frosinone, the team now in first place, won 3-1 away at Pisa and clinched promotion the previous week.
A playoff with six clubs participating will decide which team gets the third and final promotion spot. Genoa might take over for their neighboring club Sampdoria, who are currently in last position in Serie A and are 10 points away from safety.