AC Milan and Inter Milan were forced to settle for a point each as the Derby della Madonnina finished goalless at San Siro in Serie A this evening.
Both sides were searching for three points to bolster their respective Champions League qualification bids, but were each denied goals courtesy of crucial decisions, first by VAR and then by the game's officials in a lively encounter in Lombardy.
Inter started at a quicker pace in the opening moments and they had their first sight of goal when Marcelo Brozovic opened up his body to curl a teasing effort just wide of Gianluigi Donnarumma's goal.
The flanks proved effective for Inter in the first half and they soon made inroads down the right channel, where Antonio Candreva cut into the box to test the hands of Donnarumma with a snapshot just shy of the 20-minute mark.
Milan failed to offer too much going the other way, although AC carved out the game's first clear-cut chance, when Hakan Calhanoglu bent an inviting set piece into the box. The resulting delivery broke through a number of bodies and required Samir Handanovic to scramble across goal to get a vital hand to the curling effort.
Inter responded with some impressive passing and thought that they had taken the lead when Mauro Icardi beat the offside trap to finish under the body of Donnarumma, only for the goal to eventually be ruled out for offside after some successful work from the VAR system.
The second period started with more excitement as Ivan Perisic drove down the left, where his cross into the box unnerved Donnarumma, as he watched the ball loop up over his head and cannon off the crossbar.
Milan responded through Suso who scampered down the right before feeding a run beyond from Patrick Cutrone, who saw his shot smothered by Handanovic as the keeper raced off his line to thwart the danger.
It looked like the game's crucial moment was to arrive soon after when Rafinha fed Candreva, who then picked out a simple cross for an unmarked Icardi in the middle of the box, but the striker somehow contrived to skew wide of an open goal when aiming to apply an unnecessarily audacious finish.
Having failed to venture too far forward, Milan almost stole a crucial opener in the latter stages with just over 20 minutes remaining, but Cutrone saw his effort chalked out for offside by the linesman after being played through by Franck Kessie.
The game was to present one more potentially-decisive moment during injury time, but once again Icardi somehow came up short when he turned another vital chance wide having reached Joao Cancelo's cut-back at the far post.
The draw leaves Inter still holding fourth position with a two-point gap over fifth-placed Lazio, while Milan remain in sixth place and six points adrift of Le Aquile.
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Calabria, Bonucci, Romagnoli, Rodriguez; Kessie, Montolivo (Locatelli 69'), Bonaventura (Borini 81'); Suso, Cutrone (Kalinic 68'), Calhanoglu
INTER MILAN (4-2-3-1): Handanovic; Cancelo, Miranda, Skriniar, D'Ambrosio; Gagliardini, Brozovic; Candreva (Eder 77'), Rafinha (Valero 71'), Perisic; Icardi
Christopher Dodd
