Inter dented Milan's title hopes after beating their city rivals 2-1 on Sunday to move nine points clear at the top of the Serie A. Two first-half goals from Adriano and Dejan Stankovic gave Inter a commanding lead. Alexander Pato pulled one back in the 70th minute but Inter held onto their lead to avenge their 1-0 loss to Milan in the first half of the season. The Nerazzuri, who are seeking to win a fourth successive title, are in charge of the table with 56 points, nine ahead of second-placed Juventus. Milan, who suffered their fifth league defeat this season, are third on 45 points. Stankovic should have put Inter ahead after 18 minutes when he was picked out unmarked at the far post. The Serbian midfielder hesitated in shooting to allow Massimo Ambrosini make a last-minute interception to clear the ball away. Adriano made amends for his teammate's miss to break the deadlock in the 29th minute in a controversial fashion. He escaped his marker Paolo Maldini, who played his last derby as he is set to announce his retirement at the season's end, to head Maicon's inch-perfect cross goalwards.
Adriano scored with his hand The ball struck his arm before finding its way past Christian Abbiati but the referee allowed the goal to stand. Milan's slack defending cost them again two minutes before the break. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made light of Kakha Kaladze's desperate jump to flick a long ball into the path of the unmarked Stankovic, who sent a powerful half-volley past Abbiati. Wasted Chances Inter outplayed Milan during the majority of the second half and were unlucky not to extend their lead. They wasted two clear-cut chances from Adriano, who twice went one-on-one with Abbiati but failed to find the net. Milan then took control after the introduction of Filippo Inzaghi and managed to reduce the arrears through Pato on 70 minutes. Ronaldinho released Marek Jankulovski and the latter pulled the ball back to Pato, whose low shot went past Julio Cesar. Inzaghi thought he had equalized when he met Ambrosini's cross with a brilliant volley but his goal was ruled out for offside.
