The Serie A race has gone down to the wire, with both AC Milan and Inter Milan still within mathematical distance of the championship. The advantage rests with the Rossoneri, though, following their 2-0 win over Atalanta on the penultimate matchday of the 2021/22 season. A point on the final day against Sassuolo would ensure a first league title for the red half of Milan since the 2010/11 season.
It was in the earlier of the two kick-offs that Milan faced Atalanta. Welcomed by a raucous San Siro, both sides took time to settle into the match during what turned out to be a cagey first half. But, the game was flung open with Rafael Leao’s goal in the 56th minute. Leao raced onto a long, speculative pass by Junior Messias, used his incredible burst of pace to leave marker Teun Koopmeiners behind, and drilled the ball through the legs of Juan Musso to give his side the lead.
Theo Hernandez sealed the points in the 75th minute with his take on the goal of the season category. The Frenchman picked the ball on the edge of his penalty box and carried it 80 yards to the edge of the opposition one, leaving multiple defenders in his wake as he did so, before cutting a shot across the goalkeeper.
An important two-nil win for Milan, then, who could’ve won the title on Sunday night itself had rivals Inter not caught up to them with their victory over a relegation-threatened Cagliari. The Nerazzurri beat their opponents 3-1 in the later kick-off, thanks to a second-half brace by the in-form Lautaro Martinez.
Wingback Matteo Darmian gave Inter the lead in the 25th minute with a header from an Ivan Perisic cross. Later, Martinez scored the first of his two in the 51st minute to give the reigning champions some breathing space – which was almost immediately snatched from them by Charalampos Lykogiannis’s arrowed effort from range. However, the Argentine scored again in the 84th minute, putting the game beyond any doubt whatsoever, and ensuring that the Serie A title race went to the final day.
