Milan or United?

“So, who do you support?” A common question one may ask. “United”, is a relatively common answer. Yet one that continues to annoy me, as it is totally inept. United???? Do you mean Scunthrope? Leeds? Hayes and Yeading? Of course, the person always means Manchester, obviously too high and mighty to assume that someone else may actually use the term in their name. However, it appears Italians suffer the same indignation.

Taking advantage of ESPN’s free weekend on freeview, I settled down to watch the Milan derby, with all the pre-match talk about what “Milan” may do. I personally thought the whole point of a Milan derby, was that there are two teams playing from Milan. Of course, the pundits will claim that Inter’s real name is Internazionale, yet, it is F.C Internazionale Milano, or as everyone else calls them, Inter Milan, so why should AC get to keep the Milan segment all to themselves? It would be like calling Manchester United, just Manchester, leaving Manchester City to just be called “The wasters of a vast expansive of money but with a stylish as opposed to chewing gum manic manager”.

Of course, there are some differences between the two Manchester sides and the two from Milan. Both cities watch their respect teams play in red and blue, although with the two from Milan adding black stripes to their outfit. And of course, there is also the point that both the Milan teams are actually quality sides, shown by the fact that they occupy the top two places in Serie A.

As for the game itself, it was a feisty start to the game with Beckham picking up a booking after only 3 minutes, on a pitch that looked smoky, although that was probably due to the amount of flares let off within the ground. Inter then took the lead with a superb finish from Milito 9 minutes in, converting when clearly dominant. Wesley Sneijder was on top form, pulling all the strings showing as much flare and fight as their “special” manager.

But then things really got interesting. The referee accidentally blocked Sneijder from receiving a pass and then two minutes later booked Lucio for diving. Sneijder, still clearly incensed, decides to sarcastically clap at the referee, who took offence to this, or maybe to something else that could not be heard over TV, and produced a red card in front of a shocked stadium.

Yet the score remained 1-0 until half-time. 20 minutes after the players walked off the 2nd half kicked off, Gattuso being replaced by the legendary Clarence Seedorf. AC had a couple of chances to draw level, but headers were either aimed at Cesar, or put over the bar. Whilst up the other end, Inter showed great counter-attack ability, with Milito threading an eloquent flick to put Pandev through, only to watch his chip being denied by the post. But Pandev did not have much longer to wait before making a full impact on his first Milan derby, guiding a freekick into the back of the net, pass a less than agile Dida. The Macedonian celebrated without his shirt, got booked, and then promptly substituted to be replaced by the more physical, defensive-minded Thiago Motta.

The game entered the 91st minute, after Jose Mourinho had encouraged the crowd to celebrate, when the ball found its way to Huntelaar in the box. The Dutch frontman fired the ball towards the goal, blocked by the hand of Lucio. A penalty was awarded, Lucio received his second booking and marching orders, before Ronaldinho stepped up and fired his penalty towards the goal. Yet, once again, Cesar was there to keep the clean sheet for Inter.

So, Inter take the 3 points and go 9 points clear from their closest rivals. If Manchester United can get called simply “United”, because they believe they are the better side, then surely when saying “Milan” one must now be referring to Inter.