The Derby d’Italia is black-and-white tonight. Juventus won the Serie A superclasico against Inter at the Allianz Stadium with goals from Adrien Rabiot and Nicoló Fagioli, even though the man of the match was undoubtedly Filip Kostic – who served both the winning assists.
It was a two-fold edition of the derby, with a dull first part where Inter appeared a bit more proactive, and a vibrant second half where the match trend suddenly changed as Juventus scored their first almost out of the blue.
With this win, Massimiliano Allegri’s Bianconeri overtook Inter in the table by one point, reaching Roma in the fifth place.
After grabbing a last-gasp Europa League spot earlier in the week, Allegri insisted with his youngster-powered version of Juventus as he deployed Fagioli in midfield and Fabio Miretti as a trequartista in Dusan Vlahovic’s absence behind lone striker Arkadiusz Milik.
Inter also had a meaningful absentee in the person of Romelu Lukaku, who was replaced by Edin Dzeko on the front line. For the rest, Simone Inzaghi’s regular 3-5-2 offered no surprises.
The first half was a tactical stalemate that offered little to the show. Inter grew by the minutes and became more dangerous towards the end of the period. The best occasion for Juventus came from center-back Gleison Bremer, which says a lot. The Brazilian was picked in the box but his shot hit the side netting.
The Nerazzurri made themselves more heard upfront, first with a double header from Lautaro Martinez and Dzeko then went off target and then with a Denzel Dumfries close-range conclusion. In what was the most dangerous action in the whole first half, Henrikh Mkhitaryan picked Nicoló Barella with a long ball from the right side and the Sardinian midfielder whipped it in the middle of the box, where Dumfries was unable to drive it on target.
The restart seemed to follow the same pattern as Hakan Calhanoglu tested Wojciech Szczesny early on, forcing the Polish goalie to push a tricky long range conclusion above the crossbar.
But right when Inter seemed to be having the upper hand, the fate of the Derby d’Italia suddenly changed. On 52 minutes, Kostic won a power tackle with Barella and run all along the left flank before whipping the ball in the middle of the box, where Rabiot was quick to find a winning deflection to wrap his fifth seasonal goal.
Inter felt the blow and soon risked conceding another one. Danilo’s volley from a corner kick beat Szczesny for the second time but a long VAR control uncovered that the Brazilian defender had made the ball bounce on his hand in his scoring attempt.
Simone Inzaghi breathed a sigh of relief and resorted to extreme way in an attempt to rebalance the game. Joaquin Correa was sent in as the Nerazzurri switched from a 3-5-2 to a 3-4-3 setup.
The result was a Lautaro Martinez shot that was saved by Szczesny with his feet, though the Argentine should have done better with his conclusion. Juventus’ immediate answer was a terrific Kostic shot that made André Onana’s left post rattle, perhaps with a decisive deflection from the Cameroonian shot-stopper.
With the match momentum now in favor of the Bianconeri, the Old Lady found the second goal of their night on 85 minutes. It all started with a brilliant defensive clearance from Bremer, but it was once again Kostic to steal the stage as he concluded the Juventus fast break with a clinical assist for Fagioli.
The Juve youngster made no mistake, firing the ball past Onana also thanks to Robin Gosens’ unlucky deflection to set the Allianz Stadium on fire.
On a closing note, the Derby d’Italia saw the return of many long-injured players on both sides, who all got some playing time in the last quarter of the game. Marcelo Brozovic came back for Inter after 49 days. El Fideo Angel Di Maria returned among the Juventus lines, and so did Federico Chiesa, who played in a Serie A game for the first time since January.
MATCH SCORECARD
November 6, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 12
JUVENTUS – INTER 2-0
SCORERS: 52′ Rabiot, 85′ Fagioli
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JUVENTUS (3-5-1-1): Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Fagioli, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Miretti (81′ Di Maria); Milik (73′ Chiesa) (Pinsoglio, Perin, Gatti, Bonucci, Rugani, Soulé) Coach: Allegri |
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INTER (3-5-2): Onana; Skriniar (81′ Darmian), De Vrij, Acerbi; Dumfries (82′ Bellanova), Barella, Calhanoglu (74′ Correa), Mkhitaryan (82′ Brozovic), Dimarco (74′ Gosens); Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez (Handanovic, Cordaz, Gagliardini, Asllani, D’Ambrosio, Carboni, Bastoni) Coach: S. Inzaghi |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Danilo, Szczesny (J), Calhanoglu, Skriniar (I); Added Time: 1st Half 1′, 2nd Half 6′
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