Teenager Patrick Cutrone on Wednesday scored an extra-time winner and goalkeeper Antonio Donnarumma emerged from the shadow of his star brother Gianluigi Donnarumma as AC Milan dumped city rivals Inter out of the Coppa Italia.
Cutrone, 19, broke through after 104 minutes at the San Siro after the match had ended 0-0 in regulation time to set up a two-legged semi-final against SS Lazio, who saw off ACF Fiorentina 1-0 on Tuesday.
However, Milan’s third-choice goalkeeper Antonio Donnarumma, 27, elder brother of regular goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, 18, played a key role on his debut, after his sibling was ruled out with an injury and second-choice Marco Storari, 40, pulled out during the warm-up.
The video assistant referee (VAR) saved Antonio Donnarumma’s blushes after he put the ball into his own net, but otherwise it was an assured debut for a player previously branded a “parasite” by Milan’s hardcore ultra fans.
“When I heard Marco was injured, I was a little stunned, but I told myself to take this chance and have fun,” Antonio Donnarumma told Milan TV. “I always trained well, I always did my work in silence. Work pays off and fortunately it went well, I could not have asked for a better debut. It was a dream Milan debut.”
The victory was also a welcome relief for new Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso, who had likened the clash to “a World Cup final.”
“This game doesn’t solve our problems, I would be hypocritical if I said the opposite. However, it gives us confidence and allows us to work with more serenity,” former Milan player Gattuso said.
Milan are 11th in Serie A, a massive 21 points behind league leaders SSC Napoli, meaning the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Europa League, where they have made the last 32, are their only avenues to silverware this season.
Both Chinese-owned sides were coming off two consecutive defeats going into the derby, which was played in rain and in front of 50,000 passionate fans.
For Inter — third in Serie A, five points off the leaders — it was a third consecutive defeat after a storming start to the season.
“We have lost a little confidence, we do things with less courage, less convinced of our possibilities, and so when the opportunities happen, we don’t exploit them,” Inter coach Luciano Spalletti said.
Antonio Donnarumma — who was slammed as a “parasite” by Milan’s ultras after joining the club last summer as part of the negotiations for the renewal of his brother’s contract — had a baptism by fire, with the VAR coming to his rescue after an early own-goal.
Inter looked to have pulled ahead after Ivan Perisic got on the end of a corner and Antonio Donnarumma turned the ball into his own net, but the VAR confirmed Andrea Ranocchia was offside.
Antonio Donnarumma pulled off some key saves, notably from Joao Mario on the hour mark, and late on from Perisic and Antonio Candreva, to earn the applause of the crowd.
“It doesn’t get better than this,” Antonio Donnarumma said. “We were a real team tonight and the group gives you strength. We were already doing better over the last few games, the group is calm and finally we got the result too.”
As the match headed into extra-time, it was Cutrone who stole the limelight as he broke through the Inter defense to bury a Suso cross and keep Milan on track for their sixth Coppa Italia title, and first since 2003.
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