Christian Pulisic proved decisive as AC Milan edged arch-rivals Inter 1-0 in a tense Derby della Madonnina.
Inter controlled long stretches of the encounter, but it was Milan who struck first after the interval. Alexis Saelemaekers’ low drive forced a save from Yann Sommer, and Pulisic reacted quickest to tap in the rebound and stun the Nerazzurri.
Cristian Chivu’s men had every reason to feel frustrated. Hakan Çalhanoglu saw a corner met by Francesco Acerbi, whose header rattled the upright, before Mike Maignan produced a superb fingertip stop to push Lautaro Martínez’s fierce volley onto the post.
Inter continued to pile on the pressure, but Milan remained resilient. Çalhanoglu had a long-range strike charged down and Alessandro Bastoni fired over as the visitors searched for an equaliser.
Milan nearly doubled their lead through Youssouf Fofana, but Sommer smothered his low effort. Inter then earned a lifeline in the 73rd minute when Strahinja Pavlovic caught Marcus Thuram in the box. Çalhanoglu stepped up, only for Maignan to dive brilliantly to his right and push the penalty away before clawing the rebound clear.
The French goalkeeper stayed sharp in the closing moments, comfortably gathering Andy Diouf’s attempt as Milan held firm under late pressure.
The result handed Milan a valuable derby victory and lifted them to second place in Serie A. Inter slipped to fourth, while Roma remained top after a 3-1 win at Cremonese earlier in the day, moving to 27 points—two more than Milan and Napoli, and three ahead of Inter and Bologna.
Pulisic’s contribution comes just days after returning from injury, having nearly snatched the winner in last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Parma.
