Italian Super Cup final:
Taremi stars but Inter undone by Milan fightback
Inter striker Mahdi Taremi excelled with a goal and an assist but a Tammy Abraham’s last-gasp winner saw AC Milan pull off a 3-2 comeback win over its archrival in the Italian Super Cup final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Inter drew first blood right before the interval in Tuesday’s Derby della Madonnina, when Taremi teed up Lautaro Martinez with a pass across the box and the Argentine skipper deceived Malick Thiaw before his low effort went through the legs of Theo Hernandez and beat Mike Maignan at his near post.
Named in the starting XI to fill in for injured Marcus Thuram, Taremi was on the scoresheet two minutes after the break.
The Iranian controlled Stefan de Vrij’s long ball behind Milan backline and drilled his shot into the bottom corner to double Inter’s lead – a second goal for Taremi with the Nerazzurri colors since joining the club in July.
Hernandez gave Milan a lifeline with a well-taken freekick shortly afterwards, and then Christian Pulisic controlled a cross from the French fullback and steered his shot into the far corner to restore parity 10 minutes from normal time.
Just when all spectators at Al Awwal Park expected the tie to be decided by a shootout, with no extra time to be played, Portuguese winger Rafael Leao found fellow-substitute Abraham in the six-yard box, before the Englishman’s simplest of tap-ins completed the Rossoneri’s sensational comeback in the third minute of added time.
The result denied Inter what would have been an unprecedented fourth consecutive Super Cup silverware, while it saw Milan equal the city rival’s haul of eight wins in the competition, with new manager Sergio Conceicao, Taremi’s former coach in Porto, lifting a trophy in his second game in charge.
When questioned on what the Portuguese coach had changed since replacing sacked Paulo Fonseca last week, American Pulisic said: “He told us we need to have more hunger and that that’s more important than tactics.”
After the semifinal victory over Juventus, Conceicao had been asked if he embraced his players.
“I’m not so nice and I’m not someone who hugs,” he said. “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to win.”
after the final showpiece, however, Conceicao was seen dancing with his players and smoking a cigar in the changing room, as Milan celebrated a first title since winning Serie A in 2022.