Diego Moreira’s stamp on the derby

Ups and downs: how football can change in less than a week. It was only Wednesday, five days ago, when a decimated Milan side lost at home to Bologna, whilst an apparently fit and well Inter side scraped a win in Venice with a bit of luck. Saturday evening’s derby turned this situation on its head, starting with the teams’ respective injury lists: the Rossoneri suddenly – and somewhat surprisingly – welcomed back Mario Gila, Adrien Rabiot and, above all, Diego Moreira, gaining confidence in their own qualities, as demonstrated by Koni de Winter’s excellent performance against Marcus Thuram and Luka Modrić’s ‘normal’ control of the ball (normal for him, of course).

For their part, the Nerazzurri had not disclosed in advance the extent of the injuries to Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoann Bonny, both of whom were virtually ruled out of a match already without Lautaro Martínez: Christian Chivu thus found himself having to rethink his team’s formation, relying on the pace of Djed Spence and devising a hybrid role for Andy Diouf, who is now increasingly at ease on the right flank. The result, which was thoroughly deserved, is not solely a direct consequence of these players’ return to the pitch, but no one would suggest that they did not have an impact, even a glance at the match statistics makes that clear.

Whilst Gila provided his usual contribution to the defence, and Rabiot is renowned for being able to score from any position and in any situation (a goal-scoring style, incidentally, ‘replicated’ the following day by Lazio’s Gustav Isaksen), the man of the match was undoubtedly Moreira. The Belgian winger, who by his own account is equally comfortable on the right or left, provided two assists and sealed the result himself at the very moment when Inter were most likely to mount a comeback following Alessandro Bastoni’s goal to make it 1–2. There were just under two minutes remaining in the first half: had it ended with that narrow margin, the second half might well have unfolded differently.

Meanwhile, number 22 – under the watchful eye of his counterpart Kakà in the stands (whose role is quite different, as is, for now, his impact on Milan’s history) – is at times unmarkable due to the chaotic manner in which he denies the opposition defence any reference points, moving across the pitch from one touchline to the other, and has confirmed that he is a player who changes the course of matches simply by his presence. This was the case on 1 July in Seattle, when – having come on as a late substitute – he, alongside Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans, got Belgium back on track, dashing the hopes of a Senegal side that had been dominant up to that point. And so it was at San Siro.

On top of the brace that cost Lazio their only two points dropped in the league so far, he added a masterclass from a set-piece and another high-profile scalp: Mike Maignan was the first to secure the result against the reigning Italian champions with an extraordinary reflex save to thwart Spence’s own attempt (a save reminiscent of Ivan Provedel’s very recent one in Venice), then Moreira himself, who, with a left-footed strike from twenty metres out in a central position, rendered the wall’s jump and Josep Martínez’s dive futile, finding the net at mid-height without losing any power.

It’s the highlight of matchday ten, which brings double joy for Gennaro Gattuso: in the afternoon, his Lazio side, after just under six thousand days, rediscover the thrill of standing alone at the top of the table, beating a Cagliari side on the wane after a strong start to the season. In the evening, Kerim-Sam Alajbegović, fielded in a Bosnia-Qatar line-up – because the World Cup is still on everyone’s minds even months after it ended – added a new dimension to the national team’s defeat in the Balkans, sealing Juventus’ victory over Napoli with his left foot and, at least for the time being, saving Luciano Spalletti’s job. A manager who claims to stick with two centre-forwards (so to speak), yet gets his goals and assists from the wings – just ask Edon Zhegrova.