Inter Milan overpowered AC Milan early and then held firm to win the first leg of their Champions League semi-final derby 2-0 at San Siro on Wednesday.
The comfortable victory leaves the Nerazzurri on the brink of a return to European soccer’s showpiece event for the first time since the won it under Jose Mourinho in 2010.
Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored two goals in three minutes to put Inter firmly in command and the visitors could have added more in a dominant first-half performance.
The second leg is on Tuesday. The winner will face either Real Madrid or Manchester City, who drew their first leg 1-1.
Milan wer3 missing key forward Rafael Leão, who hasn't fully recovered from a thigh injury sustained at the weekend.
There was an electric atmosphere at San Siro for the semi-final that had been dubbed the “Euroderby” in Italy.
The match was expected to be cagey and tight but Inter got off to the perfect start as it took the lead in the eighth minute. Hakan Calhanoglu whipped in a corner from the left and Dzeko managed to get in front of Davide Calabria to hook a volley into the top right corner.
And Inter doubled their lead just three minutes later. Federico Dimarco's low pass was wisely left by Lautaro Martínez for Mkhitaryan to lift over Mike Maignan.
Milan had only conceded one goal in their past six Champions League matches.
Incredibly, Inter almost scored a third five minutes later but Calhanoglu’s long-range effort came off the right post.
The Milan players were shellshocked but eventually managed to compose themselves and had their first attempt on goal on the half-hour mark but Calabria hit the side netting.
Seconds later, Inter were awarded a penalty for a foul by Simon Kjaer on Martínez but the referee overturned his decision after reviewing the incident on the pitchside VAR monitor.
Milan improved after the break and were shooting towards the end packed with its fans, in a sea of red and black.
The Rossoneri should have pulled one back in the 63rd minute but Sandro Tonali’s effort came off the base of the left post.
