De Vrij snatches last-gasp Milan derby draw for Inter
Inter Milan snatched a last-gap 1-1 derby draw with AC Milan on Sunday after Stefan De Vrij rammed home a stoppage-time equaliser to save the Serie A champions from an undeserved defeat.
De Vrij forced home Nicola Zalewski’s knock-down in the third minute of stoppage time just as it looked like Tijjani Reijnder’s opener on the stroke of half-time would be enough for Milan.
Inter drawing with Milan, however, means league leaders Napoli can go five points at rivals Roma in the day’s late game if Antonio Conte’s in-form team bag an eighth straight win.
On Thursday, Inter will have a chance to regain ground regardless of what happens with Napoli as they will complete their away fixture at Fiorentina, which was stopped in December following Viola midfielder Edoardo Bove’s on-pitch collapse.
Milan meanwhile stay eighth, five points behind fourth-placed Juventus, who beat Empoli 4-1 earlier on Sunday, with a game in hand after hanging on for a point in a match dominated by Inter.
Netherlands midfielder Tijjani netted on the rebound at the end of a lightning counter-attack after Yann Sommer palmed out Rafael Leao’s low cross.
To lose to that goal would have been a sucker punch for dominant Inter, who had three goals chalked off while Yann Bisseck, Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries all hit the post in the second half.
But another Dutchman in De Vrij pounced at the death to silence a packed San Siro, which was dominated by Milan fans but which missed some of its colour due to a police ban on pre-match fan displays as part of a crackdown on the hardcore ultra supporters of the two clubs.
In September, 19 leading ultras from Milan and Inter were arrested as part of a probe into illegal profits made around matches and the infiltration of