Milito scores his first

Leonardo made a number of changes from the side that started against Chelsea.

Oneywu came in for Nesta whilst Jankulovski started at left back with Massimo Oddo relegated to the bench.

It was an all-Italian midfield as Gattuso and Pirlo started alongside captain Massimo Ambrosini.

Early on and it was Pato who tested Cesar with a long range effort.

It did not take long for Inter to take the lead. A long ball from Cambiasso put new Argentinean signing for Inter through on goal. Dazzling Oneywu, Milito found enough space for the shot which fired home following an absolute howler from Kalac.

Whilst Inter did not look in control of the game in the early stages, they were definitely more comfortable than the Rossoneri.

Apart from Pato’s early longe range drive, Milan could not forge another shot on goal in the half whilst Inter tested Kalac a number of times with shots from Cambiasso and Balotelli.

Ronaldinho then earned himself a free kick from which a rather bizarre incident followed. With his free kick hitting the wall and going out for a corner, Ronaldinho remonstrated with the referee. The referee handed him a red card before correcting himself, handing out the yellow card instead.

Cambiasso kept the Brazilian in check in a rather frustrating first half for the number 80.

For the start of the second half Milan brought on Zigoni for the ineffective Borriello and Abate for Pirlo.

The first chance of the half fell to Milan when Ronaldinho forced a splendid save from Julio Cesar from a free kick.

Like the first half, no team was really taking control of the affair.

Leonardo rang in a number of changes in the early half with Nesta, Antonini, Oddo all coming on for Oneywu, Jankulovski and Zambrotta.

Ronaldinho who in the first half got a lot of touches on the ball started to fade and duly was substituted midway through the second half for young Nigerian Vincent Odu.

Flamini at the same time also made his entrance into the game for Gattuso.

Inter then claimed a second when Gabriel Milito got the better of Abate, finding space for the shot and with the help of the hapless Kalac, the ball found its way into the net. It was Milito’s and Inter’s second for the night and like the first goal, it was Kalac they had to thank.

Not much else eventuated in the second half. Quaresma and Stankovic both tested Kalac whilst Milan continually failed to create any clear cut openings.

The match proved to be a rather tepid affair and for Milan the worry will be that they failed to create not one good chance on goal.

Overall however, neither team dominated and Inter have only to thank Kalac for their victory as both goals were a result of mistakes made by the Australian.

Not good enough

Thiago Silva was once again solid at the back whilst Abate showed some good touches after coming on in the second half.

Borriello was again nowhere to be seen, with each performance from the Italian highlighting the reason why Milan really need to buy a striker.

Against Chelsea, Milan created a number of opportunities on goal however against Inter they were unable to create one clear cut chance. One reason for this was Cambiasso. The Argentinean nullified the threat of Ronaldinho.

Also, the midfield trio of Pirlo, Ambrosini and Gattuso is less creative compared to the midfield trio deployed against Chelsea. With Pirlo indispensable in the middle, the evidence so far is that Pirlo should be fielded alongside a more defensive midfielder (Gattuso, Ambrosini, Flamini) and a more attacking midfielder (Seedorf, Abate). Such a midfield will give Milan more attacking options whilst making the Milan attack less predictable.

With the final whistle signalling the end of the World Football Challenge, Milan can look ahead to the Audi Cup where they will take on Bayern Munich in two days time.