*By Omolade Durojaiye
Inter Milan have one foot in the Champions League final after an impressive 2-0 win over AC Milan in Wednesday’s decisive last four play.
Inter have the upper hand ahead of Tuesday’s second leg of the biggest Milan encounter of a generation thanks to early strikes from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Simone Inzaghi’s side were deserving winners at the San Siro after creating the bulk of the opportunities and barely letting Milan have a sniff in front of goal.
Inter could have won by a wider margin as Hakan Calhanoglu smashed a shot off the post and Dzeko wasted a great chance early in the second half, but they are still heavy favourites to reach the final of Europe’s top club competition for the first time since they last won it 13 years ago.
Reaching the final would be extra sweet for Inter as it would avenge semi and quarterfinal eliminations at the hands of Milan in 2003 and 2005.
The winners of the tie will face holders Real Madrid or Manchester City in the June 10 showpiece in Istanbul. The first leg of that semifinal finished 1-1 in Spain on Tuesday.
It didn’t take long for the away side to open the scoring and it was a fabulous Dzeko goal which did it in the eighth minute.
The Bosnia striker held off Davide Calabria and met Hakan Calhanoglu’s inswinging corner with a perfect volley which left Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan with no chance.
With their tails up and their fans falling over each other with joy in the Curva Nord, Inter went for Milan and three minutes later Mkhitaryan doubled their lead.
And Martinez then won a penalty which was rightly overturned by referee Jesus Gil Manzano following a look at the pitch side monitor.
Milan, who also struck the woodwork through Sandro Tonali, have their work cut out if they want to have a chance at being crowned European champions for the eighth time and will hope Rafael Leao is available for next week’s decisive clash.
The absence of star man Leao left Milan without their key attacking threat and allowed Inter to play more on the front foot knowing their opponents didn’t have the Portugal winger’s pace in their advantage.