Serie A, Inter Milan 2-1 AC Milan

Inter fight back to win Milan derby

Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winner as Inter Milan bounced back from their disappointing exit from Europe in midweek with a narrow triumph over city rivals AC Milan on Sunday in the derby match.



Ibrahimovic struck with 15 minutes remaining to give the Serie A leaders a deserved victory in a thrilling encounter at a sold-out Giuseppe Meazza stadium. Substitute Julio Cruz had levelled the score shortly after the re-start to cancel out Ronaldo's first-half strike against his former club.




Inter Milan showed plenty of character after their elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Valencia, to keep their unbeaten run in Serie A. Coach Roberto Mancini's decision to replace Crespo with Cruz proved a wise move by the coach, as the latter struck seconds after entering the game.



Crespo was first to test Dida with his central strike proving an easy catch for the AC Milan goalkeeper. The Rossoneri then pressed forward and Andrea Pirlo sent a warning to Inter with his curled free-kick going just wide off the near post. Mancini was forced to make his first substitution shortly after, with Maxwell replacing an injured Fabio Grosso. Midway through the first half, Pirlo's right-footed effort forced Julio Cesar to palm over the crossbar for a corner.



Marek Jankulovski had a lucky escape after his clearance inside his own area proved an assist for Crespo, who fired wide off the far post. On the half hour mark, Inter should have been awarded a penalty after Daniele Bonera brought down Ibrahimovic inside the area but the referee surprisingly booked the Nerazzurri striker for diving and played on.


Inter increased the tempo and looked more threatening from then on. The hosts twice had the opportunity to break the deadlock. Crespo's close-range header from Nicolas Burdisso's cross went just wide off the far post.



In the 38th minute, a fantastic play by Luis Figo saw the Portuguese get past two players before firing towards the far post but Crespo was unable to get the all-important touch. Just when Inter were playing at their best Milan struck.

Ronaldo got past Maxwell before firing a left-footed strike towards the far post with goalkeeper Julio Cesar unable to reach it.



Mancini made a half-time substitution with Walter Samuel replacing Olivier Dacourt. Inter picked up where they left off and should have equalised shorlty after the break, with Ibrahimovic's close-range strike forcing Dida to dive low to clear. Milan were quite happy to sit on their lead and wait to hit Inter in the counter attack.



They should have done just that on 53 minutes, with Gennaro Gattuso missing a great chance to double his team's lead, with his angled strike narrowly missing the far post. It proved costly for the Rossoneri, as Inter equalised seconds later.



A cross from the left by Ibrahimovic found Cruz inside the box whose first touch was sufficient to beat Dida. Cruz almost struck his second shortly after, with a classy back-heel touch going inches wide over the crossbar.

AC Milan attempted to react, with Pirlo's central free-kick proved an easy catch for Julio Cesar, but it was Inter who looked more deadly. A defensive mistake to fire past Dida and give his team a lead. The goal proved a hammer blow for the Rossoneri.



Coach Carlo Ancelotti's decision to bring in Alberto Gilardino and Yoann Gourcuff failed to spark the Rossoneri as they conceded their first defeat of the year at the hands of their arch-rivals.



INTER Milan (2): 12 Julio César, 23 M Materazzi, 11 F Grosso (6 Maxwell), 4 J Zanetti, 2 I Cordoba, 16 N Burdisso, 5 D Stankovic, 7 L Figo, 15 O Dacourt (25 W Samuel), 8 Z Ibrahimovic and 18 H Crespo (9 J Cruz)


Subs: 21 S Solari, 6 Maxwell, 91 M Gonzalez, 20 A Recoba and 1 F Toldo

AC MILAN (1): 1 N Dida, 3 P Maldini, 25 D Bonera, 44 M Oddo (2 M Cafu), 18 M Jankulovski, 10 C Seedorf, 23 M Ambrosini, 22 R Kakà, 8 I Gattuso, 21 A Pirlo and 99 L Ronaldo

Subs: 20 Y Gourcuff, 11 A Gilardino, 17 D Simic, 7 R Oliveira, 32 C Brocchi, 16 Z Kalac

Serie A Inter Milan 2-1 AC Milan highlights and goals:

Adriano Leite Ribeiro (born February 17, 1982 in Rio de Janeiro), known simply as Adriano, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for F.C Internazionale Milano (known simply as Inter Milan in English speaking countries) in the Italian Serie A.

The experts consider him the best player raised in Brazil in the last decade, that is since the appeareance of Ronaldo. His body is chiseled in the long hours spent in a Milan gymnasium, and his boots (size 43) fire thunderous shots from all angles towards the same target. He is a superb ball-holder, shows a surprising agility for his size, and frustrates defenders with his gravity-defying jumps which unmistakeably last a bit longer than expected. That's Adriano – the hottest goods coming from Brazil since Ronaldo!

The tall striker joined Internazionale from Flamengo in 2001 and after just 8 appearances he was sent on loan to Fiorentina. In Florence, Adriano scored 6 times and soon found himself on loan to Parma.
At Parma, he went on to score 22 goals in 36 games earning him an immediate move back to Milan during the winter break of the 2003-04 season. The U17 Fifa World Cup winner in 1999, made his full debut in November 2000 against during the 2002 WC Qualifyings against Colombia. His best display with the Selecao was in Copa America 2004, he was top scorer with 7 goals, best player of the tournament and his goal in the 90th minute of the final sent the match to penalty kicks.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (born April 22, 1982 in Brasília, Brazil), simply known as Kaká, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazil and the Serie A club A.C. Milan.
He got his nickname "Kaká" because his little brother Rodrigo could not pronounce the word Ricardo when they were young. Rodrigo called his older brother "Caca" which Ricardo later changed to "Kaká".

Ricky risked his life by badly jumping off a diving-board which caused him the fracture of a vertebra. This could have meant the end of his football career but he believes Jesus allowed him to recover and become the star footballer he now is. For this reason, every time he scores he points his fingers to the sky as a sign of thanks.

Club Career:

Kaká made his debut at Sao Paolo FC. in 2001 when he was 18 years old. In the first season, he scored 12 goals in 27 appearances, and 10 goals in 22 appearances in the following season. At the age of 17, while he was still still at the youth squad, Sao Paulo was set to sell Kaká to Turkish 1st division side Gaziantespor. The deal did not occur, however, because the manager of Gaziantespor, Nurullah Sağlam, and the clubs board refused to pay a price of $1.5m for the 17 year old. After joining Sao Paolo FC senior squad, his performance attracted attention from European clubs.

He joined AC Milan in 2003 for US $8.5 m, a fee described in hind-sight as "peanuts" by club owner. Within a month, he became a first team regular, an he has been a starter ever since.

On April 9, 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo Verona. All three goals were scored in the second half.
In 2006, Real Madrid showed an interest in signing the 24 year old star, but both Milan and Kaká refused to sell. Kaká signed a contract extension until 2011.

Watch a compilation of Kaká's best goals with Ac Milan and the Brazilian national team:

One of the world's most lethal marksman, Hernán Crespo is deceptively quick and skilful and has been a regular goalscorer everywhere he has played.

A protégé of Daniel Passarella at CA River Plate, Crespo won two national championships in Argentina as well as a Copa Libertadores in 1996 before joining Parma AC, where he won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia in 1998/99 and another Italian Cup the following season. S.S. Lazio paid a then world record €60m to acquire Crespo, who finished the 2000/01 season as Serie A's top scorer with 26 goals. FC Internazionale Milano handed over €20m, plus Bernardo Corradi, to secure his services in summer 2002, but after an explosive start with the Nerazzurri a thigh injury halted his progress. Crespo joined Chelsea FC for €24.25m in 2003 but was unable to settle in London, scoring ten times in 19 Premiership appearances. He returned to Italy on a year-long loan at AC Milan, to be reunited with his former Parma coach Carlo Ancelotti, but the season ended in the disappointment of a UEFA Champions League final defeat against Liverpool despite Crespo's two goals. He returned to Chelsea refreshed for 2005/06 and scored their opening goal of the Premiership season, adding nine more as they retained their English crown. However, Crespo still wished to return to Italy and rejoined Inter on a two-year contract, with Chelsea retaining the right to take him back next summer.

Now watch Crespo's magic!!

The Gladiator, Francesco Totti is an Italian football player, who currently plays for A.S. Roma in Serie A and for the Italian national team, who are the current world champions after winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Francesco Totti's position is that of a striker or an attacking midfielder, though he's best known for playing as the "trequartista", a compromise between the two positions where the player acts as a link between midfield and attack. He is also Roma's first choice to take free kicks, having scored a number of goals from dead-ball situations.

Totti is widely recognised as the symbol of Roma, having never left the team despite the possibility of playing in stronger and richer clubs, and being the number one goalscorer in the club's history.
Here's Totti's video since his first goal, till the world cup.. enjoy!