Massimiliano Allegri’s men were superb in Sunday evening’s victory and despite going down to ten men with half an hour to go they weathered the storm.
Now the Rossoneri sit at the summit and hold a six-point buffer over their cross-town rivals who are down in fifth after winning just one of their past five Serie A matches.
Inter had plenty of issues during Sunday’s match and manager Rafa Benitez’s tactical performance was ordinary with the decision to give veteran Marco Materazzi his first start of the campaign a shocker, after he conceded the penalty which led to the winner.
Meanwhile, star midfielders Dejan Stankovic and Javier Zanetti were below their best and Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic was inspired.
It’s an alarming state of affairs for Inter, who are struggling to perform like the champion side they were last season under Jose Mourinho.
In fact, it’s been over two months since Inter scored more than one goal in a Serie A match, as they’ve struggled to find their way under Benitez.
Under the Spaniard, Inter are trying to impose themselves on matches, pushing up the field, which is a foreign tactical approach to those employed by Mourinho.
And at the moment it appears to be a concern for the Nerazzurri as the performances are not coming, nor the results, and they are slipping away from the leaders.
It is far from over just yet, considering we are only a dozen games into the Serie A campaign and Inter are six points off the pace.
And beyond AC Milan, there appear to be few genuine title contenders.
Lazio have surprised everybody with their results but it’s hard to see them maintaining their run despite their solid 2-0 win over third-placed Napoli, who’ve looked strong too.
Juventus are still finding their way under Luigi Del Neri, while AS Roma’s slow start has them behind the eightball although after much hard work they are back to within a point of the champions.
But none of this will matter if Inter continue the way they are under Benitez. The Inter faithful is beginning to realise this and the pressure is mounting on the Spaniard.
Benitez, though, said he has the support of the club and believes the team just needs time to find its way with his new approach.
“I am glad I have the support of the president. On Sunday evening after the derby, I spoke to Massimo Moratti,” he said.
“We are all disappointed, but I am working with him and [Marco] Branca to improve the side over the January transfer window. There is a willingness to improve, and it’s not only tied to the transfer market.
“We need to all refocus without waiting for January to arrive. I am open to making the odd move if need be, but we must evaluate whether it’s really necessary.
“The situation is neither terrible nor great. I feel the side are going through an evolutionary phase.”
But how long will that evolution take and was it really necessary? Time will tell.