Inter Milan Coach’s Risk Pays Off With Impact Substitutes In 1-1 Serie A Draw Vs AC Milan | OneFootball

Simone Inzaghi took a risk with his substitutions against AC Milan yesterday, and it paid off for Inter Milan.

The Nerazzurri coach received praise for the impact of the changes in the player ratings for the match across Italian media, via FCInterNews.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see Inter coach Simone Inzaghi go with his first-choice starting eleven yesterday.

The derby is always a huge match. So there was no thought of squad rotation from the Nerazzurri coach.

But in the first half, that first-choice eleven was not quite at its best.

Then, after Milan took the lead on the stroke of halftime, the reaction at the start of the second half wasn’t enough.

Inzaghi Risk Pays Off In AC Milan Vs Inter Serie A Derby

Simone Inzaghi made a big decision with his substitutions in the second half.

The likes of Alessandro Bastoni, Benjamin Pavard, and Hakan Calhanoglu came off. Carlos Augusto, Yann Bisseck, and Piotr Zielinski replaced them.

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 02: Simone Inzaghi, Head Coach of FC Internazionale, looks on prior to the Serie A match between AC Milan and FC Internazionale at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 02, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Then, Davide Frattesi and a debuting Nicola Zalewski took the place of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Federico Dimarco.

That meant that many normally key players for Inter left the pitch.

Naturally, this risked making the team look disjointed.

But Simone Inzaghi knew that he needed to gamble on some changes. The usual approach was not working as far as breaking down Milan and finding an equalizer.

But eventually, it was debutant Zalewski who provided the assist for Stefan de Vrij’s stoppage time goal.

That was emblematic of the impact that Inzaghi’s changes had on the match.