AC Milan 1-1 Inter: Player ratings from thrilling Derby della Madonnina

AC Milan and Inter shared the spoils on Sunday evening after a blockbuster Derby della Madonnina at San Siro.

During a particularly frenetic first half, Inter took the lead through a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, before a Stefan de Vrij own goal drew Milan level. I Nerazzurri were awarded another penalty before the half hour mark, but Lautaro Martinez's spot kick was sublimely saved by Ciprian Tatarusanu.

Inter were gifted a chance to take the lead by, well, sheer stupidity from Franck Kessie. The Ivorian - for some reason - thought it was a good idea to dribble the ball into his own box while under pressure from Calhanoglu and Edin Dzeko, and after being put under pressure, he clipped the heels of the former to concede a penalty kick.

Up stepped former Milan man Calhanoglu, who made no mistake with the spot - firing the ball straight into the middle of the net.

Just five minutes later Milan got back on level terms, via the head of Stefan de Vrij. The centre back mistimed a headed clearance of a Sandro Tonali set piece to knock the ball into his own net.

The action didn't stop there inside the first half-hour either, as Milan went ahead and gave Inter another penalty kick in the 25th minute.

Yep, this really was a mental game of football.

This time it was Fode Bollo-Toure who brought down Matteo Darmian in the box after he had burst into the box from the right flank.

Lautaro Martinez stepped up to the take the penalty but it was saved - with Ciprian Tatarusanu diving to his left to stop a fantastic strike from nestling in the corner of the net. Honestly, it might be the best spot-kick save ever.

Before the break there was still time for another huge chance for Inter. It fell to Nicolo Barella, who saw his low strike cleared off the by Ballo-Toure, before Martinez scuffed a shot from the penalty spot just wide of the foot of the left post.

The start of the second half proved to be wholly dominated by Inter, with Calhanoglu spurning a great opportunity for the visitors (technically) - drilling a volley from the edge of the six-yard box across goal and out for a goal kick.

After a few timely substitutions - namely Ante Rebic's return after a few weeks out injured - Milan grew back into the game, with Rebic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic both missing half-chances around the 70th minute mark.

Those two half-chances saw business pick up again in the Milan derby.

The game became much more stretched from the 70th minute mark onwards as both teams went for the win.

Substitute Arturo Vidal was the first to spurn a brilliant opportunity, as saw his shot from about eight yards out blocked well by fellow substitute Pierre Kalulu.

Next up it was Ibra, who forced Samir Handanovic into a good save with a thunderous low free kick. Then it was Ismael Bennacer who ballooned a first-time shot from the left of the penalty are over the crossbar.

And finally it was Alexis Saelemaekers with a brilliant strike from 25-yards out cannoning off the post to Kessie, who sliced his subsequent effort - with just the keeper to beat - wide of the post.

It's fair to say the last 15 minutes were pretty frantic - the blisters on my fingers can attest to this.

Here's the player ratings.

AC Milan player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Ciprian Tatarusanu (GK) - 8/10 - Made probably the best penalty save you're ever likely to see. The big man came up trumps.

Davide Calabria (RB) - 7/10 - Had a tough time of it up against Perisic and Bastoni on the left flank, and did really well against both.

Simon Kjaer (CB) - 7/10 - Just a brilliant centre-back. Dealt with the physical threat of Dzeko very well.

Fikayo Tomori (CB) - 6/10 - Claimed a goal that definitely wasn't his. Stood firm against a pretty tricky customer in Martinez.

Fode Ballo-Toure (LB) - 3/10 - Clearly nowhere near as good as Theo Hernandez (obviously). Gave away a penalty with a fairly daft tackle on Darmian, but did make up for it by clearing a Barella shot off the line.

2. Midfielders

Sandro Tonali (CM) - 5/10 - His set piece delivery was good, but Milan looked a much better team when Bennacer replaced him.

Franck Kessie (CM) - 2/10 - Legit an all-time terrible bit of play to give Inter a penalty inside the opening ten minutes. Thereafter he was sloppy in possession and generally, well, crap.

Rada Krunic (AM) - 4/10 - Worked hard, but lacked the quality needed to make a real difference.

3. Forwards

Brahim Diaz (RW) - N/A - You wouldn't have known he was on the pitch.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (ST) - 6/10 - Held up the ball really well, but just didn't get the service he needs.

Rafael Leao (LW) - 5/10 - Such a handful on the left flank, and played with the confidence we've seen all season long in the first half. Faded in the second.

4. Substitutes

Pierre Kalulu - 6/10 - Dealt with Darmian much better than Ballo-Toure did.

Ante Rebic - 6/10 - Made a difference when he came on.

Alexis Saelemaekers - 6/10 - Hit the post with a superb effort on goal.

Tiemoue Bakayoko - N/A.

Ismael Bennacer - 7/10 - He was fantastic.

Inter player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & defenders

Samir Handanovic (GK) - 5/10 - Made a decent save from an Ibra free kick, but didn't have a whole lot to do otherwise.

Milan Skriniar (CB) - 7/10 - Enjoyed/endured a real battle with Leao on the left flank in the first half. Judging by Leao's substitution early in the second, it was a battle he won.

Stefan de Vrij (CB) - 6/10 - Scored a pretty horrid own goal to draw Milan level, but was brilliant otherwise.

Alessandro Bastoni (CB) - 6/10 - Brilliant going forward when he got the chance to do so, set up Barella's chance at the end of the first half with some classic wing play.

6. Midfielders & wing-backs

Matteo Darmian (RWB) - 7/10 - Won a penalty in the first half, and was a live wire throughout.

Nicolo Barella (CM) - 6/10 - Had a shot cleared off the line. Would have liked to have seen more of his famous lung-bursting runs from midfield, but he came off with an apparent hamstring injury around the 70th minute mark.

Marcelo Brozovic (CM) - 7/10 - Inter won the midfield battle, and Broz was a big reason why they did.

Hakan Calhanoglu (CM) - 7/10 - Scored the opener against his former team. Seemed to enjoy scoring it too. Put in an unusually great shift in midfield.

Ivan Perisic (LWB) - 6/10 - Grew into the game in the second half, and caused Calabria quite a few problems.

7. Forwards

Lautaro Martinez (ST) - 6/10 - Hard to say he missed his penalty, it was more saved than missed. His general play was very good.

Edin Dzeko (ST) - 6/10 - Like Ibra, his hold up play was good. Like Barella, he went off injured.

8. Substitutes

Arturo Vidal - 4/10 - Missed a great chance.

Joaquin Correa - N/A.

Denzel Dumfries - N/A.

Alexis Sanchez - N/A