Inter grafted to a 1-0 win to overcome Juventus at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday evening.
In what was shaping up to be the ‘Scudetto match’ of the season given the history of the two clubs, the standings of the current season with Inter in first place and Juventus only behind by one point ahead of the match and the race for the Scudetto, Inter-Juventus was arguably set to be the most important match of the season for both teams.
Inter lined up as follows (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro Martínez.
Juventus lined up as follows (3-5-2): Szczęsny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Cambiaso, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostić; Vlahović, Yıldız.
The first half was all Inter. As soon as the sixth minute of play, the hosts were on the front foot and creating chance after chance towards goal. Henrikh Mkhitaryan had two chances in the opening minutes but amounted to nothing.
Another chance for Inter came in the 18th minute. Benjamin Pavard, getting forward, put a great hanging ball into the Juventus box towards the back post. It was too far for Lautaro Martínez but not for Federico Dimarco, who met the ball and hit it on the volley with his left foot. Unfortunately, he mis-hit the ball and ended up causing a goal-kick.
Not long after, in the 25th minute, an even better opportunity arose for Inter. Hakan Çalhanoğlu sent a world-class through ball from his half into the final third to find Federico Dimarco on the run near the corner. Dimarco put the ball into the box for Marcus Thuram who was running in, but the ball was slightly behind Thuram and Gleison Bremer was able to meet it first with a clean tackle to intercept the pass.
It was Juventus’ turn next as Weston McKennie drove through the Inter midfield and with a few feints and drops of the shoulder opened up the defence. The midfielder found Dušan Vlahović on the left-hand side of Inter’s box, but the forward’s touch got away from him and allowed Benjamin Pavard to come in and clean up.
Around ten minutes before the first half ended, Nicolò Barella put a chipped ball into the right side of the Juventus box to find Benjamin Pavard completely unmarked. Pavard was in front of the goal and went for a bicycle kick, but missed the ball…which bounced across the goal and met a combination of Marcus Thuram and Federico Gatti who were tangled together, both trying to win the ball. What initially seemed like a touch from Thuram turned out to be an own-goal from the Juventus defender and Inter had the lead!
After the second half kicked off, it took until the 58th minute for another chance. After a long throw was cleared from the Juventus box, the ball fell to Hakan Çalhanoğlu who controlled with his chest before hitting the ball on the volley and smashing off the post! Szczęsny was completely beaten and Inter was inches away from extending their lead.
In the 69th minute, Federico Dimarco had the ball on the left side of the pitch and put a looping ball into the far post to find Nicolò Barella. The Italian international hit the ball on the volley and would have been a sure goal if it was not for the acrobatic save from Szczęsny, who was able to keep the ball out with his outstretched leg! A fantastic save to deny the hosts.
Towards the end of the match in the 87th minute, substitute Denzel Dumfries had free space on the right flank and made a bursting run as Lautaro Martínez found him in the final third. Dumfries sent a ball into the Juventus box to find fellow substitute Marko Arnautović, but again, Juventus goalkeeper Szczęsny was somehow able to deny Arnautović in a one-on-one opportunity.
Inter was able to secure the three points and extend their lead at the top of the Serie A table to four points over Juventus, with a game in hand as well.
Here is how we have rated the individual performances today.
Player Ratings
Yann Sommer – 6
Simone Inzaghi said it best after the match, Sommer had some good rest. Juventus only had one shot ‘on target’ the entire match as Inter’s goalkeeper hardly had any work to do.
Benjamin Pavard – 8
Incredible, INCREDIBLE. Rock solid in defence, keeping Yıldız and substitute Chiesa quiet all match. Had a world-class tackle sticking his ankle out and winning the ball while facing backward, as well as a bicycle-kick attempt that turned into somewhat of an assist.
Francesco Acerbi – 6.5
Defensively superb. While Acerbi is not the quickest defender, he is sure one of the smartest- and it is so wonderful to see his quick thinking in action to win the ball and lock down even the most in-form forwards.
Alessandro Bastoni – 7
Fantastic in helping his team keep a clean sheet and so satisfying to watch Bastoni burst forward in attack. Even had a few chances at goal.
Matteo Darmian – 6
Another solid day at the office. Helped his team both on defense and attack. The right choice to play over Dumfries in this match.
Nicolò Barella – 7
Could and should have had a goal. Very unlucky to come away without one after a wonder save. Solid performance, always putting in effort and hustle.
Hakan Çalhanoglu – 8
WOW. Today showed the culmination of the player he has become and the regista deep-lying playmaker he now is. 94% pass accuracy from 104 attempted passes, eight successful long-balls from 11 attempts and 17 (!!!!) passes into the final third. This is calcio.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6.5
Had a couple of good shots on goal and was very active in the defensive phase as well.
Federico Dimarco – 7.5
Another player who should have had a goal. Created countless chances and was hard at work up and down the left flank all match.
Marcus Thuram – 7
Worked for the win. Caused issues for the defense throughout the entire match- dribbling, using his physicality, being active in the build-up, you name it. Involved in the own goal for what ended up being the match-winner.
Lautaro Martínez – (C) 6
A quiet match for the Inter skipper in terms of goal contributions but there is no doubt that he played his part. Always leading his team, encouraging the fans, a true leader.
Substitutes
Denzel Dumfries – 6.5
Entered the match very well. His situation has been confusing lately, but seems to have found his focus and it showed.
Carlos Augusto – 6.5
Made a great impact on the match. Put his physicality and aerial ability to use on the left-hand side and dealt with Juventus substitute Timothy Weah very positively.
Marko Arnautović – 5
Did well in the build-up but again missed a big chance that would have ended the game for Juventus going into the final minutes of the match.
Davy Klaassen – N/A
Entered in the final minutes of the match, unable to rate this performance.
Stefan de Vrij – N/A
Entered in the final minutes of the match, unable to rate this performance.
I know everyone’s talking about it, but, well, I would also like to talk about Calhanoglu’s pass to Dimarco a little bit more. That was a Wesley Sneijder-in-2009 calibre pass. Took one touch after receiving the ball, one half-second glance, and launched it from deep in his own half right to the feet of the on-running Dimarco just inside Juve’s box. The ball never got higher than head-height in its path, and cut a perfect arc through the air, splitting right between two Juve defenders who were at most six meters apart, and had nearly come to a stop on the grass by the time Dimarco reached it. I literally don’t know how that pass could have be better, and with such an extreme difficulty level. An ever-so-slight change in direction, power or spin and that ball is going absolutely nowhere. Glorious.
It’s crazy to think that a year and a half ago, I genuinely didn’t know what Inter were going to do when we said goodbye to Marcelo Brozovic. For years he was the brains behind Inter’s entire style of play, and we looked like a totally different, far worse team whenever he took a breather. Now we’ve been without him for half a season, and I barely even think about him anymore, so thoroughly has Calhanoglu owned that role.
Such a joy to watch.
It tells you something about Inzaghis management and talent. And obviously also Hakans talent:-)
Somewhere in the match, after another splendid pass my danish commentator shouted:
“come on man. He(Hakan) has to stop it now. It’s just getting ridiculous. They should take him back to the laboratory and decipher what he’s made of”
End quote😁😁
He is fast approaching to become my favourite Inter player. Among many of course. On the curious side, I also always had a soft spot for for his countryman Emre. Not so much for Okan and Sukur.
Great win but, yes there is a but sadly because it happens often, both Thuram the first half from a perfect pass from Dimarco and Arnautovic second half missed the open net, this happens more than people realize.