Just over a week since defeating Napoli, Juventus had the
chance to record 3 points against another title challenger, league leaders
Inter who began the night 2 points ahead of Juventus and undefeated. Allegri would raise more than a few eyebrows when the Juventus
starting 11 was confirmed for the derby d’Italia, Paulo Dybala the most notable
name to start from the substitutes bench alongside Douglas Costa, Claudio
Marchisio and Alex Sandro (a player off form and surrounded by speculation of imminent
departure). Also missing out would be Gianluigi Buffon and Stephan Lichtsteiner
through injury.
Inter would begin the game controlling most of the possession
but it would be the home side who would have the first real chance in front of
goal, Cuadrado crossing the ball into Inter's penalty area to find Mandzukic on
the volley, Handanovic would prevent the ball but could only rebound the ball
back into the direction of Mandzukic who again came close to scoring with a
headed effort, if not for a Miranda clearance. Juventus would sit off Inter for
spells in the first half, willingly waiting for a mistake to capitalise on.
Juventus would have another wonderful chance to score as the first half came to a
close, Mandzukic again at the centre of the action, getting on the end of another
cross from Cuadrado only for his header to be denied by the cross bar, whilst
Inter ended the first half without a single effort on goal
Juventus would come out with a purpose for the second half,
pressing forward in search of the opening goal and increasing the pressure on
Inter, Handanovic saving efforts from Mandzukic and Higuain early on. With an
hour played Juventus would again come close to breaking the deadlock, Higuain
playing an over head ball as Cuadrado ran down on goal, however Perisic intercepted, heading the ball towards Handanovic who tipped the on coming ball over his goal and out of play for a Juventus corner. Ten minutes later Asamoah would try his luck
in front of goal, finding the path clear of any Inter shirt for a straight shot
on goal, Handanovic again preventing the opening goal. 75 minutes played and
Dybala finally entered the fray in place of Khedira for the remaining 15 minutes of the derby d’Italia,
Mandzukic would have another chance to finally score before the night was over,
but the Croatians footing would let him down after controlling the ball with
his chest inside Inter’s penalty area, ending up flat on his face after
slipping on the pitch. Despite pressure from Juventus for most of the second
half and hitting the cross bar prior to the half time whistle, the match would
end goalless for both sides, Juventus failing to score a goal for the first time
in 45 matches.
Most talk will be of a missed opportunity to take Inter off
top spot, wrong decision's and questionable choice of personnel when it came to
the starting 11, but Juventus nullified Inter hit-man Mauro Icardi, a player who
usually finds a way to score against Juventus and currently leading the way
when it comes to goal scorers in Serie A. Juventus also did it without ‘parking
the bus’ looking particularly dangerous in the second half, creating chances
and over all looking the better side of the two. The simple truth being had it not been for Inter keeper Handanovic, Mandzukic having some what of an off night in front of goal, Juventus could well have won this game. Whilst sharing a point with inter is not ideal, ending back to back games against Juventus two main title challengers with 4 points is far from the worst thought scenario when looking at the fixtures against Napoli and Inter just a few short weeks ago. Allegri made some big decisions prior to kick off leaving some big names out of the starting 11 and it almost paid off.
Full Time Result: Juventus 0-0 Inter
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