The Serie A title race took yet another stunning turn on Saturday night as Juventus came from 2-1 down to defeat Inter Milan 3-2 at the San Siro. In one of the most dramatic games the Italian league has seen in quite some time, the champions wrestled back control of the game from an Inter Milan side who are desperately trying to secure qualification into the UEFA Champions League for next season.
From start to finish it was an eventful encounter, and now, things will only continue to snowball as the last few weeks of the campaign promise to bring more twists and turns. In terms of this game specifically, however, fans and pundits alike will be talking about some of the decisions and big moments that occurred for quite some time.
Back and forth
Within the first twenty minutes, it seemed as if it’d be business as usual for Juventus, as they went 1-0 up courtesy of a Costa strike before Vecino’s early red card made things even more difficult for Inter. Thankfully for their faithful supporters, they kept plugging away, as Juve began to show signs of a team who were worried about defending their lead.
Heading into half-time it was clear to see that certain fans felt the visitors were getting lucky with a few decisions going their way, with Pjanic not receiving a second yellow card being viewed upon as a big turning point in the game. Of course, by that point, Inter had drawn level through Mauro Icardi, and within a few minutes, they’d taken the lead courtesy of a Barzagli own goal.
Inter managed to hold onto the lead right up until the 87th minute when both their hearts and the hearts of Napoli fans around the world broke into a million pieces. A Skriniar own goal levelled things up, and before Milan even had time to lick their wounds, Gonzalo Higuain broke his goalless streak and sent the away fans into a state of utter bedlam.
Final Thoughts
For the title race this is clearly a big blow if you’re a Napoli fan, but if you’re neutral just looking for some drama, you got exactly what you wanted. Yet again, The Old Lady proved to the world why they’re one of the best sides in European football.
Juventus now find themselves four points clear at the top of the table, with the attention turning towards second place Napoli’s game against Fiorentina tomorrow.
Match Report
Inter Milan: Handanovic (6), D’Ambrosio (6), Miranda (6.5), Skriniar (6), Cancelo (7.5), Brozovic (7), Vecino (N/A), Perisic (6), Rafinha (7), Candreva (7), Icardi (7.5)
Subs: Valero (6), Santon (6), Karamoh (6)
Juventus: Buffon (7), Cuadrado (8.5), Rugani (6.5), Barzagli (5.5), Sandro (7), Khedira (6), Pjanic (5.5), Matuidi (6.5), Costa (8), Higuain (7), Mandzukic (6)
Subs: Bentacur (6.5), Bernardeschi (6), Dybala (6.5)
Yellow Cards: D’Ambrosio, Brozovic, Mandzukic, Pjanic, Cuadrado, Barzagli, Sandro
Red Cards: Vecino
Referee: Daniele Orsato
Goals: Icardi, Barzagli (OG) :: Costa, Skriniar, Higuain
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