AC Milan 3-1 Inter: Diego Moreira's goal and two assists win the derby della Madonnina

Diego Moreira had the best attacking night of any player in Serie A this season, with a goal and two assists, as AC Milan beat city rivals Inter 3-1 in a derby della Madonnina moved forward to a Saturday night kick-off. Christian Pulisic headed Milan in front from Moreira's cross after four minutes, Adrien Rabiot doubled it from another Moreira pass six minutes later, and although Alessandro Bastoni headed Inter back into it just before the half-hour, Moreira's own goal — a 43rd-minute free-kick — restored the two-goal cushion that held for the rest of the match.

Moreira's night

Moreira, the 22-year-old Belgium international Milan signed from Strasbourg for a reported €50 million in August 2026 on a five-year deal, was directly involved in all three of Milan's goals. His cross set up Pulisic's opening header, his pass down the inside-left channel sent Rabiot through for the second, and seventeen minutes before half-time he stepped up himself and curled a free-kick past Josep Martínez from the edge of the box. Three contributions to three different goals, in a derby, inside the first 43 minutes — the kind of night that explains why Strasbourg accepted the biggest transfer fee in the club's history to let him go.

Bastoni's header and a response that never arrived

Inter were not passive about it. Alessandro Bastoni rose above Milan's back three to head in from a corner in the 22nd minute, and by full time Inter had finished with 56.9% of the ball, 11 corners to Milan's three and eight shots on target to Milan's four. None of it mattered once Moreira's free-kick restored the two-goal gap on the stroke of half-time. Cristian Chivu sent on five substitutes after the break — Federico Dimarco, Piotr Zielinski, Pio Esposito, Ange-Yoan Bonny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all appeared chasing a second goal that never came, Koni De Winter and Moreira picking up second-half bookings as Milan absorbed the pressure.

Form coming into the derby

Milan arrived on the back of a mixed stretch — draws with Juventus, Lazio and Sassuolo broken up by wins over Lecce and Atalanta, and a 2-4 home defeat to Bologna just three days earlier. Inter, by contrast, had barely slowed down: four wins in their previous five matches across all competitions, including a stoppage-time comeback against Fiorentina the weekend before, with only a Champions League defeat at Club Brugge interrupting the run. The derby ended that run in the worst possible way for Inter — their first Serie A defeat of the season, and by two goals, their heaviest losing margin in any competition this term (the Champions League defeats at Real Madrid and to Club Brugge were both by a single goal).

What it means in the table

The result flips the psychological script even if it does not flip the table. Inter stay top on 25 points, still three clear of Lazio in second (22) and far enough ahead on goal difference (+13) that one derby defeat changes little at the summit. Milan's win lifts them to third on 21 points, two behind Lazio and three ahead of fourth-placed Roma (18), with a +9 goal difference now the best of any side outside the top two. For a club that lost at home to Bologna three days earlier, it is about as complete a response as a derby can provide.

Scorers

• 4' — Christian Pulisic (AC Milan, header), assisted by Diego Moreira
• 10' — Adrien Rabiot (AC Milan), assisted by Diego Moreira
• 22' — Alessandro Bastoni (Inter, header)
• 43' — Diego Moreira (AC Milan, free-kick)

Match facts

Line-ups

What's next

AC Milan are back on the road at Genoa on Sunday 8 November, looking to build on a derby win that pushed them above Roma and within two points of second place. Inter host Como the same afternoon, still five points clear of fourth place despite the defeat, and will want the derby loss to be a blip rather than the start of anything longer.