Inter Milan jumped to the top of the Italian first division football club after it rose spectacularly in the second half and turned two goals late to a 4-2 victory over rivals Milan.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made the first goal, scored by Ante Rebic, and then hit the net with a header, leading Milan 2-0 to deserve the end of the first half.
However, Inter equalized within two minutes at the start of the second half through Marcelo Prozovic with a powerful shot from outside the region and Matthias Vecino, before a header by Stefan de Frey gave Inter a lead in the 70th minute.
Ibrahimovic hit the post in the last minute with Milan looking for a draw, but the team of coach Antonio Conte settled the victory in injury time, with a header from Romelu Lukaku.
Inter advanced to the lead on goal difference after raising its score to 54 points from 23 games, equal with defending champions Juventus, who lost 2-1 to Elias Verona on Saturday, while Milan’s balance remained 32 points in tenth place.
Conte admitted that Inter could now dream of winning the title a week ago, in which he would undergo a difficult test of his competence.
Inter will meet Napoli in the away leg of the Italian Cup final on Wednesday, before next Sunday they will visit third-placed Lazio, who are one point behind.
“It is still too early to talk about something we can only dream of now. We can dream. It is a very difficult period for us and then there will be a better idea of our true capabilities,” Inter coach Sky Italy coach told Reuters.
“We have to play important matches, starting with facing Napoli on Wednesday and then Lazio, who has become strong over the years.”
“We cannot achieve everything from day to night, but we continue to build. These players have today proven to have strength and courage.”
Milan started strongly and approached the score with Hakan Chalhanoglu, who fired a low shot from outside the penalty area, bounced off the post. Milan progressed well due five minutes before the break when Ibrahimovic passed to Ribiche to score from close range.
Ibrahimovic netted himself in stoppage time for the first half with a header at the far post after a corner kick by Frank Casey, making the Swedish striker the oldest player to score in the famous Milan summit game, aged 38 and 129 days.
But Inter rose dramatically in two minutes at the start of the second half.
Prozovic showed great skill in hitting a powerful ball from the edge of the penalty area in the 51st minute before Alexis Sanchez broke the offside trap and passed to Vicino to equalize.
Conte turned the match upside down when De Vrei converted a cross-kick from the corner into the goal, and substitute Christian Eriksen was just a few centimeters away from scoring his first goal with the club with a free-kick from a long distance that hit the crossbar.
Ibrahimovic headed his head in Al-Qaim from close range in the last minute of the match’s original time, before Lukaku confirmed that Inter had won the three points with the fourth goal by a header in stoppage time, scoring his 17th goal in the league this season.
“We stopped playing, the team’s faith declined and we stopped pressing and we did not pass the ball enough,” Ibrahimovic said.
“Beginning from the equalizer, everything collapsed.”
Inter have now beaten Milan four times in a row in the league for the first time since 1983.
