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10 months ago
45 ARTICLE AD
Following on from the victories of Napoli and Atalanta Bergamo, the 23rd day of the Serie offered us a dream poster between two teams fighting for the title: Inter Milan and Juventus Turin. Recent winner of the Italian Super Cup and with a new success against a member of the top 4 at the weekend, the Lombard club approached this 251st Italian derby with full confidence and wanted to win the three points to fly to the top of the rankings. A task far from obvious on paper given the form of his opponent in the evening. Revengeful after having let precious points slip away last week after a draw against Empoli, the Old Lady intended to rely on her dynamic away as well as her in-form man Vlahovic, author of six pawns during the last four matches, to thwart the plans of the Simone Inzaghi gang.
However, it was Inter Milan who set the tone from the start. On the first Milanese foray into the Turin camp, Pavard found his compatriot Thuram who, after clearing Danilo, crossed hard in front of the goal. The danger was finally removed by Gatti at 5.50 meters (1st). A few minutes later, Mkhitaryan in turn distinguished himself near the Turin area with a tense shot. Slightly deflected by an opposing player, the Armenian’s shot ended above Szczeseny’s crossbar (5th). Starting the match with a bang, the Nerazzurri took control of the game while increasing the pressure on the Piedmontese cages. Very prominent in this first half, Thuram could have opened the scoring without a decisive return from Bremer (25th). Heckled by an involved Milan team, Juve tried to react. Alerted directly in the Lombardy area by McKennie, Vlahovic missed the shooting window, the fault of a rough control combined with an intervention by Pavard (32nd). Behind, Inter managed to make their highlight come true. On the outskirts of the truth zone, Barella opened his foot to serve Pavard who, with an acrobatic gesture, involuntarily transmitted to Thuram. Fighting against the Tricolore, Gatti missed and propelled the leather into his own cages (1-0, 37th).
Inter in control, Juve harmless
Rewarded, Inter took the lead at the break. Opposite, half-time arrived at the right time for Juve, more comfortable returning from the locker room without having total control of operations. Progressing in sequences in the Milan half, the Old Lady nevertheless forced her game, like this distant and off-target strike from Danilo (54th). Superior on a technical level, Inter accelerated with the aim of taking cover. If Dimarco’s shot grazed Szczeseny’s target (56th), Calhanoglu’s shot on the following action found the Pole’s right post (57th). Suffering, Juve let the storm pass and operated on the counter. But once again, Vlahovic lacked the spontaneity to take a cross shot from Kostic (59th) before trying an acrobatic gesture (63rd). Then, it was Gatti’s turn to want to make up for his blunder in the first act. Ideally placed at 25 meters, the Italian delivered a powerful shot from the right which skimmed Sommer’s frame (67th).
Unable to improve on their highlight, Juve was close to a knockout. On a school block, Dimarco brought danger on the left wing and alerted Barella on the other side. In first intention, the Transalpine regained the right and forced Szczesny to make a saving save to preserve his team in the game (69th). In a choppy last quarter of an hour, Inter alternated phases of possession and placed attacks. Coming into play in the 73rd minute, Dumfries could have sealed the victory for his team on the sidelines of added time without another save from Szczesny (87th). Without consequence for Inter who added a new victory to their credit, the fourth in a row in the league, and thus accentuated their domination at the top of the ranking. With one game in hand and now relegated to four points behind their evening opponent, Juventus was marking time.
