Inter Milan coach Claudio Ranieri was proud of their derby win over AC Milan.

Inter won through Diego Milito with a second-half goal.

"We are making huge steps forward and it was important to beat Milan, the first head-to-head in our favour. Evidently the other three defeats to Juventus, Napoli and Udinese taught us a lesson," he said after a 1-0 victory.

"We were tight, tactically smart and ready to hit them at any moment. At times this season we played badly and won. Now we've been doing well and have rediscovered the energy to get back to our best."

The result was their sixth consecutive Serie A win and puts them in fifth place, back in the Scudetto race.

"From the first day I arrived I said the Scudetto is out in front of us. Juventus slowed down this weekend and we stopped Milan. The first thing was to get into the Europa League places, now the next step is the Champions League.

"You know it is in Inter's blood, in their DNA, to fight for the top titles, but this season we have to take it one game at a time."