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On Saturday, two matches of the 9th round took place in the Italian league. "Inter" celebrated a dramatic victory in the Milan derby, while "Roma" ended their run of failures by defeating the "Udinese" team away.
In one of the most exciting Milan derbies of all time, "Inter" defeated "Milan" 4-3. The "Nerazzurri" took the lead 4-1 and it seemed that the outcome of the match was clear, but a red card shown to Marco Materazzi turned the game upside down. "Milan" managed to score two goals and regain hope of at least a draw, but the "Inter" players bravely withstood the pressure from their opponents and celebrated an impressive victory.
"Inter" took the lead in the 17th minute. Former "Nerazzurri" player Hernan Crespo headed in a pass from Dejan Stankovic and celebrated his first goal in the history of these two clubs' derbies. Five minutes later, D.Stankovic received a pass just outside the penalty box from the Brazilian Maicon and the Serbian's strike found the back of the net, putting "Inter" ahead 2-0.
At the start of the second half, "Milan" coach Carlo Ancelotti made changes - forwards Alberto Gilardino, Ricardo Oliveira, and veteran Paolo Maldini entered the field. However, these changes did not protect "Milan" from conceding their third goal. Just 90 seconds into the half, D.Stankovic created another opportunity by passing the ball to his teammate Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who managed to score another goal for "Inter".
However, "Milan" soon managed to reduce the gap. Orlando Clarence Seedorf's shot, which hit the crossbar twice, confused the "Inter" players and, changing direction, went into Julio Cesar's goal. A few minutes later, the "Milan" players scored another goal, but the referee disallowed it because Alberto Gilardino was offside.
"Inter" resisted the attacks of their opponents and in the 69th minute managed to score their fourth goal. Marco Materazzi headed in a cross from Luis Figo and, unable to control his emotions, took off his shirt. He was shown a yellow card for this, and since it was already the second Italian card in this match, the World Champion had to leave the field.
Using their numerical advantage, "Milan" players managed to score a goal seven minutes later. Alberto Gilardino scored with a header after a pass from the Brazilian Cafu, giving his team hope to continue fighting. "Inter" coach Roberto Mancini replaced injured forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic with defender Walter Samuel.
However, this did not prevent "Inter" from conceding another goal - in the 90th minute, taking advantage of the opponent's goalkeeper's mistake, "Milan" defender Kaka scored into the empty net, making the score 4-3. The last 5 minutes of the game were a complete siege of "Inter"'s goal, and in the final minutes even "Milan" goalkeeper Dida joined the attacks, but the "Nerazzurri" managed to defend and secure a truly memorable victory.
In the other matches on Saturday, "Roma" ended their run of failures by defeating "Udinese" 1-0 away. The capital team's victory was decided by a 66th-minute goal by Matteo Ferrari. "Udinese" defenders failed to properly clear the ball sent by Francesco Totti into the penalty area and M. Ferrari took advantage of that, sending the ball into the net. Four minutes later, "Udinese" player Sulley Ali Muntari was sent off the field for a scuffle with the same M. Ferrari.
Saturday's match results:
Inter - Milan 4-3
17` [0 - 1] Hernan Crespo
22` [0 - 2] Dejan Stankovic
47` [0 - 3] Zlatan Ibrahimovic
50` [1 - 3] Clarence Seedorf
69` [1 - 4] Marco Materazzi
76` [2 - 4] Alberto Gilardino
90` [3 - 4] Kaka
69` Marco Materazzi sent off ("Inter")
Udinese - Roma 0-1
66` [0 - 1] Matteo Ferrari
70` Sulley Ali Muntari sent off ("Udinese")
Top scorers of the league:
1. Christian Rigano ("Messina") - 6;
2-3. Mario Frick ("Siena") - 5;
Rolando Bianchi ("Atalanta") - 5;
4-9. Luca Toni ("Fiorentina") - 4;
Vincenzo Iaquinta ("Udinese") - 4;
Cristiano Doni ("Atalanta") - 4;
Eugenio Corini ("Palermo") - 4;
Hernan Crespo ("Inter") - 4;
Dejan Stankovic ("Inter") - 4.
