Kalac – 6.5: Slightly nervy at times but made one excellent stop from Crespo’s one-on-one and also produced a smart stop from Maxwell’s free kick.
Bonera - 7: Impressive display from the former Parma man, who was equally adept both defensively and offensively. His crossing was also good.
Nesta – 7.5: Proved once again why he is one of, if not the best, centre back in the world. Gave a lesson in the art of slide tackling today.
Kaladze – 6.5: The Georgian breezed through the first 60 minutes without working up a sweat, but had to be alert as Inter upped the ante late in the game.
Favalli – 7: Excellent in the first half before he was forced off on 41 minutes with an ankle injury. Bombed forward repeatedly down the left-hand side. A real surprise.
Ambrosini – 9: Superb in the middle-of-the-park. Ambrosini was first to every ball, got stuck in, distributed well, and was... Read more »
Pippo Inzaghi and Kaka won a dramatic derby that ruins Inter's Scudetto celebrations, cutting their lead to just three points!
Rarely has a Derby della Madonnina been so highly charged, as Inter could win the Scudetto and rub their rivals' noses in it, while Milan needed a victory to maintain any hope of reaching a Champions League spot. Bragging rights were also at stake, as the Nerazzurri were on track for a fourth consecutive derby triumph.
There were no suspension worries, but Nelson Dida, Ronaldo, Paolo Maldini, Emerson, Serginho, Olivier Dacourt, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Walter Samuel, Ivan Cordoba and Luis Figo were injured. Nuno Maniche was a surprise choice when Dejan Stankovic failed to recover from a muscular probl... Read more »
Kalac – 5.5: A few nervy moments, and one of these almost allowed Vigiani to equalize when the score was 2-1. Was completely blameless on Barreto’s goal.
Cafu - 7: One of Cafu’s best games in a Milan shirt this season. Bombed up-and-down the right flank all afternoon.
Nesta – 6.5: Nullified the threat of Reggina’s lone frontman Amoruso, even if he made one mistake at 2-1 that could have resulted in a leveller for Cozza.
Kaladze – 6: A sound game from the Georgian, even if he did have the odd lapse of concentration. Almost scored down the other end in the first half.
Favalli – 6.5: It is so easy to be critical of Favalli, but today he offered a steady, if not spectacular, performance.
Gattuso – 7: Still failing to convince me that he will ever return to his old levels. But having said this he definitely won the midfield battle today.
Pirlo - 8: A welcome return to form. Some of his through-passes were simply out of this world. A... Read more »
Kaka proved he is fully recovered with a magnificent performance and hat-trick in this drubbing of Reggina.
There was no room for error as the Rossoneri needed a win to avoid falling seven points behind Fiorentina. Last week's 3-2 defeat at Juventus was a blow, but even worse was their dismal home form, winning just five times at San Siro. Reggina were on a high after beating Sampdoria 1-0, though they remained in the bottom three and had scored just once in their previous six away games. Curiously, this fixture hadn't ended in a draw for nine editions, since the 2-2 in December 1999.
Alexandre Pato returned from a mysterious muscular injury to sit on the bench, though Daniele Bonera and Massimo Ambrosini were banne... Read more »
MILANELLO - Here are the called up Milan players for the match against Cagliari: Dida, Kalac, Bonera, Cafu, Favalli, Kaladze, Maldini, Simic, Ambrosini, Brocchi, Gattuso, Gourcuff, Kakà, Pirlo, Seedorf, Inzaghi, Pato, Paloschi. Not called up: Digao, Aubameyang. Unavailable: Jankulovski, Oddo, Serginho, Emerson, Gilardino, Ronaldo. Suspended: Nesta.