AC Milan fight back to claim Italian Super Cup final

January 6

It took exactly one week on the job for Sergio Conceicao to earn his first trophy as AC Milan’s coach – with two comeback wins, no less.

Milan came back from two goals down to beat city rivals Inter Milan 3-2 and win the Italian Super Cup on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).

Rafael Leao came off the bench and played a part in all three of Milan’s goals from Theo Hernandez, Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham.

Conceicao was hired to replace the fired Paulo Fonseca last Monday, and also led the Rossoneri to a comeback win over Juventus in the semi-finals.

So what changed with Conceicao?

“We played with confidence, courage and hunger,” Abraham said. “We’re a strong team.”

Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi put Inter ahead with goals either side of halftime.

Leao then earned a foul that resulted in a free kick, which Hernandez curled in around Inter’s wall.

Pulisic then finished off a counterattack by shooting through Augusto’s legs on a play that began with Leao.

For the third goal, Leao provided a through-ball for Pulisic, who crossed to Abraham, who tapped into an empty net in stoppage time.

The final was moments away from going to a penalty shootout, since there was not going to be any extra time, according to the competition rules.

It was Milan’s first trophy since winning Serie A in 2022.

“It’s also our fault that Fonseca was fired,” said Hernandez, who often clashed with the former coach.

“We didn’t have much time to work together (with Conceicao), but it’s gone well in that short span.”

It was the fifth time in the past seven years that the competition has been played in Saudi Arabia, and the second year of an expanded four-team format.

A throw-in led to Inter’s opener as Taremi fed the ball inside the area to Lautaro, who cut back before shooting through Hernandez’s legs on Inter’s only real chance of the half.

Taremi, playing in place of the injured Marcus Thuram, finished off a counterattack right after the break.

Milan play their first Serie A match under Conceicao against Cagliari on Saturday. The Rossoneri are in eighth place, but will return to league action with much more confidence.

Inter lost for only the third time this season across all competitions, and for the second time to Milan, who won the Serie A derby 2-1 in September.

The Nerazzurri’s other loss was to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

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