At Allianz Arena in Turin, the 1st leg of Coppa Italia semifinals between Juventus and Inter went into a draw. Both teams saw some late drama and players got sent off in the end.
After Kean and Milik collaborated to score the game-winning goal at the weekend, Di Maria paired with Vlahovic up front for Juventus today. Rabiot was also reinstated into the starting lineup by Juventus. Szczesny was replaced in goal by Perin in the interim. Chiesa was benched due to his ongoing fitness issues, while Paul Pogba and Leonardo Bonucci remained injured.
Lukaku and Correa, who struggled on Saturday, were replaced up front by Dzeko and Martinez for Inter. Federico Dimarco made a comeback on the left flank, demoting Gosens to the bench. Onana was replaced in goal by club captain Handanovic, and D’Ambrosio returned after serving a two-match Serie A suspension for getting into trouble against Juventus last month.
After Locatelli stole the ball from the centre of the field and sent Di Maria away on the break, the playmaker fired towards the bottom-left corner after shaking off Bastoni. To tip the ball behind for a corner, Handanovic dove low.
Inter was keeping the ball in their own half and was certainly not in a rush to advance in numbers in an effort to lessen the sting of the game. Then, almost by accident, Martinez missed a cross from deep on the right with a wild swing from the edge of the box.
When Juventus received possession of the ball after D’Ambrosio failed to properly clear his lines, Danilo seized the opportunity to score from the left side of the box. His ambitious attempt, though, was way over the top.
Dzeko misjudged Rabiot by cutting inside, giving his team a free kick about 30 yards from the goal. Dimarco attempted a pop, but Perin easily countered and successfully caught the ball on his second attempt.
Dzeko dropped his shoulder as he entered from the right side, but his 20-yard shot harmlessly scuttled into Perin’s waiting gloves in the middle of Juve’s goal.
Perin scrambled the ball while stooping low to block Brozovic’s shot from the centre. Juventus’ defence was lax, so Mkhitaryan was able to intercept the ball and set up his midfield partner.
In the right side of the area, Cuadrado and Fagioli both encountered resistance before Gatti was called for a foul for a careless challenge on Dzeko, who was happy to fall over and earn his team a free-kick.
When Kostic received the ball after Vlahovic’s last-second denial of an opportunity to spin and shoot from 10 yards, the winger sent a thunderous attempt over the crossbar. Mkhitaryan was set up by Dimarco, who gave the ball away inside the area with his back to the goal, and Mkhitaryan flashed a low drive across the goal that just missed the right post.
Danilo’s overconfident attempt from a distance zipped well wide of the left-hand post, and the Juventus captain would have been better off playing in a teammate there. Brozovic chose to attempt a goal from the edge of the box despite being unbalanced and in a poor shooting position, sending the ball high over the crossbar.
After the hosts forced a gap in the Inter defence, Chiesa lost his bearings on the left side of the area, ran into a backtracking Barella with the ball, then chopped down his Italy teammate while attempting to win it back.
A rare burst of excitement was sent through the crowd when Rabiot surged from midfield, but Kostic was unable to make a precise cross from the left. After Juventus re-used the ball, Milik came dangerously close to converting Cuadrado’s low cross-shot.
Once more, the Bianconeri outlasted their rivals and scored in the dying moments. This time, Cuadrado gave the home team a 1-0 lead with an accurate low shot from the right side of the six-yard box that beat Handanovic. Bastoni made every effort to get it off the line, but in vain.
Last-second penalty for Inter. Bremer mishandled a defensive header just inside the area while not under immediate pressure, allowing the ball to strike his outstretched arm. After double-checking, the VAR assessed the penalty. Lukaku took the penalty kick and calmly and coolly placed it in the bottom-left corner. Perin made a wrong decision In the final minute of stoppage time, the score settled at 1-1.
After his converted penalty, Lukaku reacted angrily to heckling from the crowd. He then got into a fight and was shockingly dismissed. In this competitive situation, Samir Handanovic and Juan Cuadrado were also given red cards.
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