MILAN (AFP) - Carlos Bacca and M'Baye Niang hit second half goals as AC Milan ended their long wait to celebrate victory in the city derby with a crushing 3-0 win over Inter Milan on Sunday.
Title-chasing Inter had the chance to move up to third in Serie A to close the gap on leaders Napoli to six points. But after a bright start, Roberto Mancini's visitors took their foot off the gas to go into the dressing room 1-0 down after Alex's 35th minute header.
Inter spurned the chance to pull level 20 minutes from the end when second-half substitute Mauro Icardi hit the post from the penalty spot.
It proved the turning point of the game and Milan, who suffered a 1-0 defeat by Inter earlier this season and last won the "Derby della Madonnina" by three clear goals in 2011, doubled their lead on 73 minutes when Bacca kneed Niang's delivery past Samir Handanovic from close range.
Four minutes later, the stadium erupted for a fourth time when Niang found the roof of the net at the second attempt to secure the points for Sinisa Mihajlovic's men.
Mihajlovic admitted Icardi's penalty miss had been "decisive", adding: "It's the greatest joy I've experienced since I've coached, because when you win a derby like this it enters the history books.
"I'm happy for the club president (Silvio Berlusconi), the players and the fans."
Seven-time European champions Milan are bidding to qualify for the Champions League next season after a two-year hiatus and although they remain 14 points behind leaders Napoli, they are only six points behind third-placed Fiorentina, who drew at Genoa earlier Sunday.
Inter have now failed to win their last three games meaning the Nerazzurri, who invested heavily in new players during the summer, are nine points off the pace.
Mancini, who was sent off for showing his middle finger to fans who were insulting him, later admitted his guilt.
"I did it to eight fans who were insulting me, I admit it. I was being verbally abused and ended up doing what I did," he said, "I don't agree with a lot of the referee's decisions tonight, some of them were disastrous. In saying that, we lost 3-0 and so we have some problems to solve."
