Christian Pulisic fired AC Milan to derby victory with the only goal in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Inter Milan, moving his side up to second in Serie A and within two points of new leaders Roma.

Pulisic pounced for his fifth goal of the season in the 54th minute after Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer weakly palmed away Alexis Saelemaekers’ low shot, Milan’s only true opportunity of a tense encounter at a boisterous San Siro.

Pulisic has been excellent this season, with two assists to go with his joint league-leading goal tally for Milan, who have a great record against the top teams but have dropped points to the lesser lights.

“Often you’re more on it for a big match, and we need to understand that we’re vulnerable when we let the intensity drop,” said Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri.

But Milan also had Mike Maignan to thank for the three points as the France goalkeeper kept out Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty in the 74th minute and tipped a
Lautaro Martinez volley onto the post eight minutes before half-time.

Francesco Acerbi thumped a header onto the woodwork 10 minutes before as Inter dominated the play but couldn’t find their way past Maignan.
Inter sit fourth, a point behind Milan and champions Napoli, and narrowly above high-flying Bologna.

Cristian Chivu’s team now turn their attentions to Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Atletico Madrid, where they can take another step towards direct qualification for the last 16 after winning all four of their previous matches.

“We’re on the right track. We believe in the coach and the project, and we can’t change our minds about that because of one defeat,” said Marcus Thuram.
“We’ve got things we need to improve, but we can’t throw everything out the window.”

Milan meanwhile have a whole week to bask in a second straight derby win, with the red and black half of the city not having tasted defeat to their local rivals since Inter sealed their 20th league title against them in April 2024.

Earlier, Matias Soule, Evan Ferguson and Wesley scored the goals which gave Roma a 3-1 win at Cremonese and continued their strong start to life under Gian Piero Gasperini.