Luka Jovic fired AC Milan into the final of the Coppa Italia with a brace in Wednesday’s convincing 3-0 derby win over Inter Milan which sent his team through 4-1 on aggregate.
Serbia forward Jovic doubled his goal tally for the season, with Tijjani Reijnders sealing the tie late on, as Milan fans were given something to shout about in what has been an awful season for the seven-time European champion.
Milan is unbeaten in all five of this season’s local derbies and Wednesday’s win also ended Inter’s hopes of repeating the Serie A, Champions League and cup treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010.
Sergio Conceicao’s side, which sits ninth in Serie A and will almost certainly miss out on Champions League football next season, will likely face Bologna in next month’s final in Rome.
Bologna leads Empoli 3-0 ahead of its second leg on Thursday and is set to reach a major tournament final for the first time since last winning the cup in 1974.
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Given a rare start, Jovic put Milan ahead on the night and in the tie in the 38th minute when he met Alex Jimenez’s cross with a thumping header, the nominal away side’s first chance of the game.
Federico Dimarco had hit the bar and Lautaro Martinez smashed a great chance over before Jovic opened the scoring, and the 27-year-old extended Milan’s aggregate lead three minutes after the break.
Jovic pounced to poke home from close range after Inter failed to deal with a basic corner, sparking four immediate substitutions from Inter coach Simone Inzaghi which came to nothing.
Instead, Reijnders completed a comprehensive win for Milan five minutes from the end when he rolled home with a first-time finish after being slipped in by Rafael Leao.
Elimination at the hands of its local rival is a big blow to Inter which had genuine ambitions of the treble after booking a Champions League semifinal against Barcelona last week.
But Inter is also level on points with Napoli at the top of Serie A after losing to Bologna at the weekend and could easily end an excellent season empty-handed.
Inzaghi’s players have a packed and challenging run-in with Champions League chaser Roma visiting the San Siro on Sunday before the first leg of their last-four clash with Barcelona which could yet make or break their campaign.
