Calhanoglu’s Derby Penalty Drama: Maignan’s Mind Games End Inter Star’s Streak

Calhanoglu’s Penalty Perfection Meets Its Match

For Hakan Calhanoglu, the penalty spot had always felt like home. The Turkish midfielder, a captain for his country and a linchpin for Inter Milan, had built a reputation for icy composure and clinical execution. Since arriving in Serie A, he’d converted 27 of 28 penalties for Inter and all three for Milan before that. The Italian media waxed lyrical about his technique; TV pundits dissected his every approach. If there was a sure thing in Italian football, it was Calhanoglu from twelve yards out.

But on a brisk Sunday night at San Siro, everything changed. The Milan derby had been a tense, tactical affair—one of those games where the stakes seem to hang in the air like a heavy fog. It took 73 minutes and a VAR review before the drama peaked: Strahinja Pavlovic’s foul on Marcus Thuram led referee Simone Sozza to point to the spot. The script wrote itself—Inter would equalize, and Calhanoglu would deliver as always.

Yet, what followed was anything but routine. AC Milan’s goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, decided to play mind games. Rather than guessing Calhanoglu’s usual bottom-left corner, Maignan shifted a step toward his own left, almost inviting the Inter playmaker to stick with his favorite. It was a psychological duel, a silent conversation: “Go ahead, take your shot. But you’d better hit it perfectly, because I’m coming for it.”

Calhanoglu struck true, but Maignan was quicker. Diving low and strong, the Milan keeper parried the shot away—ending, for the first time in eight years of Italian domestic football, Calhanoglu’s near-mythical penalty run with a goalkeeper save. Gianluigi Buffon, watching from the Dazn TV studio, summed up the moment: “I would have taken the same position as Maignan, but I don’t know if I would have made the save.” (The Guardian)

Déjà Vu and Derby Drama

For Calhanoglu, the miss carried a strange sense of déjà vu. According to Giuseppe Pastore, both of his recent penalty misses—against Napoli last year and now against Milan—occurred at the 74th minute, in front of the Curva Nord. It’s the kind of eerie coincidence that can haunt even the most unflappable professionals (Yahoo Sports).

The emotional weight of the moment was plain to see. Inter, who had dominated the first half and peppered Maignan with dangerous attempts—diving headers from Thuram, volleys from Martínez, a thundering corner from Acerbi—were left frustrated by the French keeper’s heroics. Lautaro Martínez’s exasperated shrug after another denied chance seemed to encapsulate the sense of bureaucratic futility: paperwork, carefully prepared, rejected again by an implacable official.

Milan’s Ruthless Efficiency and Inter’s Familiar Frustrations

While Inter created more and better chances, Milan were the picture of efficiency. Their goal came not from a flowing move but from relentless pressure and opportunism. Youssouf Fofana’s surge through midfield led to a shot from Alexis Saelemaekers, which was saved but not held by Inter’s Yann Sommer. Christian Pulisic pounced, firing the rebound home for the game’s only goal.

After that, Milan’s approach was classic Allegri: compact, patient, and disciplined. They ceded possession but starved Inter of real opportunities. When Pavlovic’s foul offered Inter a lifeline, Maignan was there to slam the door shut. Milan’s win wasn’t a fluke; it was a study in executing a game plan under pressure.

For Inter, the loss was a continuation of a troubling pattern. Despite boasting what many see as the strongest squad in Serie A, their record in high-stakes matches—the so-called scontri diretti against top rivals—has been poor. Since last season, they have won only two of twelve such games, losing six. Even a managerial change, with Christian Chivu taking over from Simone Inzaghi, hasn’t shifted the narrative. As Chivu himself admitted post-match, there were no excuses—only a need to quickly refocus ahead of a critical Champions League clash with Atlético Madrid.

The Human Side of Pressure and Uncertainty

Penalty misses are more than just statistics; they’re moments that can alter careers and shift momentum. For Calhanoglu, this miss was a rare crack in an otherwise flawless record. For Maignan, whose own future is uncertain with his contract set to expire at season’s end, it was a reminder of his world-class pedigree. The subplots abound: Inter’s Yann Sommer, 36, faces criticism as his form dips; Milan’s past defensive frailties now seem distant memories on nights like this.

The league table remains tight. With a third of the season gone, Roma lead with 27 points, but Milan and Napoli are close behind, and Inter lurk in fourth. Every slip—every missed penalty, every tactical misstep—could define the title race. As Massimiliano Allegri put it, “It’s a process. We will continue to grow.”

But perhaps the most enduring image from this derby is the look on Calhanoglu’s face after the save—a mixture of disbelief and resignation. For a player so accustomed to control, it was a reminder that in football, as in life, even the most reliable patterns can be broken by a moment of courage, a flash of intuition, or simply the weight of history catching up at the worst possible time.

Mike Maignan’s psychological mastery didn’t just end Calhanoglu’s streak; it symbolized the razor-thin margins that separate triumph from heartbreak in elite football. For Inter, the challenge is now mental as much as tactical: overcoming these big-game setbacks before they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. For Milan, the blend of resilience and opportunism signals a team ready to seize any opportunity—especially when the pressure is at its highest.