Juventus won the Derby d’Italia at San Siro by narrow margin. However, Juventus showed a strong display throughout the game and routed the struggling Inter 1-0 thanks to the goal from Kostic.
The Inter team that fell to Spezia 2-1 last Friday had five changes made to it. Between the posts, Onana replaced Handanovic, and De Vrij took over for the unavailable Alessandro Bastoni. At wing-back, Dimarco and Dumfries were chosen over Gosens and D’Ambrosio, and Calhanoglu replaced Mkhitaryan in the middle of the field.
Juventus changed four players from the team that defeated Sampdoria 4-2 a week earlier. While Gatti benched Bonucci in defence, Szczesny started in goal ahead of Perin. In the centre of midfield, Locatelli was chosen over Barrenechea, and Soule was paired with Vlahovic in attack.
Barella was given space by Calhanoglu’s square pass 20 yards from goal, and the Italy international decided to shoot at Szczesny right away. It’s a vicious attempt, but Juventus goalkeeper did well by parrying it away with two hands.
On the right wing, Lukaku held the ball up well and laid it off to Barella, but with three Juventus defenders in the area, Barella’s cross was unsuccessful in finding a teammate.
Danilo and Vlahovic misread each other’s signals, resulting in the Juventus captain passing the ball to the striker—who was unquestionably offside—too early and too deep.
The play was intended to be switched to Dimarco by Darmian as he wound up close to the halfway line, but the poor effort curled away from his teammate and out for a Juventus throw-in.
Inside the penalty area, Lukaku and Barella interacted incredibly well, popping the ball up to one another. When given a scoring opportunity, the midfielder neatly controls it with his chest before unleashing a close-range volley that the goalkeeper blocks superbly.
After Szcznesy’s outstanding save, Dimarco clung to the ball near the left corner flag before being forced out by a strong Bremer tackle. Although he kept his cards in his pocket, the referee gave Inter the free kick.
Rabiot brought the ball down superbly after receiving a pass from Danilo over the top of the midfield. After a brief switch with Vlahovic, the French discovered Kostic open on the left, and the wingback expertly placed his shot into the far corner giving Juventus the lead.
The referee signalled the goal will stand by blowing his whistle and pointing to the area after nearly five minutes of VAR checks. Barella and Martinez disagreed with the decision, and Martinez insisted that a hand was used, but it was ineffective because Juventus had already taken the lead.
On the left wing, Kostic found himself in a risky situation once more, but he decided to cut a pass back to the penalty spot instead. On the penalty spot, Soule was unmarked at all times, but he slipped as he was winding up, causing the shot to harmlessly miss the target.
From a position just left of centre, Calhanoglu shaped a beautiful cross to the far post, but Kostic deflected it away. Bremer was just quick enough to turn and clear it away while off-balance as Calhanoglu attempted another low cross into the path of Lukaku while occupying a position on the right wing.
Lukaku met Calhanoglu’s cross at the far post from deep on the right wing, but under Danilo’s cover, he popped header up and over the crossbar.
At the far post, Dimarco attempted to volley Dumfries’ cross towards the goal, but Gatti just managed to do enough with his hands tucked behind his back to deflect the shot. The deflection came to Brozovic who blew it wide the goal post.
Instead of playing a straightforward pass down the wing to the overlapping Darmian, Calhanoglu chose to cut the ball back onto his left and try to find Barella on the outskirts of the penalty area. It was a careless attempt that Fagioli easily intercepted, earning him a free-kick in the process.
Vlahovic received a pass from Rabiot that was clipped into the penalty area, where he controlled it with his chest before falling to a De Vrij challenge. To the chagrin of the Serbian striker, the referee saw nothing wrong with the it and allowed play to continue.
Brozovic was given free reign to advance through midfield, but the Croatian international got confused at the last second and sent a poor pass towards the penalty area that Rabiot easily intercepted.
Calhanoglu was on the move when Rabiot crossed in front of him, sliding in a touch late and catching the Inter midfielder’s foot. The France international had given a free kick for the home team 30 yards from goal, and he was also given a yellow card. Calhanoglu attempted to beat Szczesny at his near post with a flat free-kick delivery, but Fagioli successfully blocked the shot and made an easy catch possible for his goalkeeper.
Lukaku and Martinez lined up to wait for a dangerous, low cross from Dumfries that was played to the far post, but Gatti’s sliding tackle in desperation intercepted the pass and won the ball back very near Szczesny’s goal.
Juventus should be concerned because Chiesa was removed from the game just 17 minutes after coming on. The forward quickly went over to Allegri to explain the situation after appearing to take a slight knock again.
Mkhitaryan attempted to beat Sczcesny at his far post with a first-time shot from 24 yards out, but the powerful strike was sent wide of Szczesny’s right post.
26 yards from the goal, Vlahovic shoved Mkhitaryan over from behind, giving Inter a free kick. Danilo expressed his displeasure with the referee’s decision and let it be known that he disagreed, but his outburst earned him a yellow card.
In an attempt to finally beat Szczesny, Calhanoglu curled a desperate corner into the area, but Rabiot won the header, allowing Fagioli to advance the ball up the field and eliminate the threat from Juventus box.
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