AC Milan Beats Inter Milan 3-0 In Fierce Serie A Derby

In Serie A, Italy's premier football division, there is no greater rivalry than between AC Milan and Inter Milan, which is why Saturday's match between these fierce derby rivals was packed to the rafters, which saw AC Milan beat Inter Milan 3-0.

There was much at stake for both teams on the weekend, because as the current Serie A leaders, AC Milan is intent on keeping their lead as the 2010/11 Serie A season winds down, while Inter Milan were equally eager to improve their third place position.

However, there is a reason that AC Milan has dominated the season so far, which they demonstrated in no uncertain terms at San Siro on Saturday by scoring their first goal of the match in under a minute into the first half, courtesy of striker Alexandre Pato.

At the whistle, AC Milan wasted no time in maneuvering the ball in front of the Inter goal, and although Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar managed to fend off a good effort by AC striker Robinho, he splashed the ball which was sent into the back of the net by Peto.

Fans of AC Milan jumped for joy at the early goal, while fans of Inter Milan could only watch in shock as their nightmare defeat was only beginning to unfold. That said, Inter came excruciatingly close to equalising in the 19th minute courtesy of Giampaolo Pazzini.

But it was not to be, and despite many close efforts from both sides - including Mark van Bommel's powerful strike which hit Inter's crossbar and Christian Chivu's narrowly deflected header in front of AC's goal - the first half failed to yield any additional goals.

In the second half, both teams struggled to find the back of the others' net. But then in the 54th minute, Inter defender Chivu brought down Pato which got him sent off leaving his side a man down, and just eight minutes later Pato headed in his second of the day.

Inter did all they could to fend off AC Milan with just 10 men, but despite their best efforts, they could not stop AC substitute striker Antonio Cassano from converting a penalty in the 90th minute, which was awarded as a result of a foul from Inter's Javier Zanetti.

Here are the full Serie A results from the weekend: