A long time ago, duels between Juventus and Inter were branded “Derby d’Italia” as at the time, those were the two biggest clubs in Northern Italy. In today’s terms, they are still among the best, and tonight they played a very exciting and interesting derby, with plenty of emotions, high tempo, fierce duels, good chances but only one goal. And that goal could be decisive, as neither clubs could allow themselves to draw in this match. In the end, it was Inter who stayed alive in the title race with a massive win, first of it’s kind since 2012: Juventus – Inter 0-1.5 – There have been five penalties taken in the last three Serie A meetings between Juventus and Inter, one more than in the previous 29 matches between these two sides in the competition. VAR.#SerieA #JuveInter— OptaPaolo 🏆 (@OptaPaolo) April 3, 2022 Current champion came to Turin and defended from the first minute, either because of the tactics, of because Juventus made a great pressure on the last line of Inter’s defense. It was a rare game in which Juventus was so dominant (22 total shots, 5 on target) and yet failed to win over Inter (5 shots, 1 on target). Even thou the game was more than interesting, the crucial thing happened in the last 15 minutes of the first half, which lasted 10 minutes longer due to penalty/VAR controversy.
After the referee failed to award a penalty for Inter following a tackle over Dumfries, VAR intervened and the guest got their only opportunity in the first half. Calhanoglu tried, but Szczesny saved a penalty, and just as referee awarded a free kick for Juventus, VAR intervened again. This time, they saw that De Ligt made an encroachment, and the penalty was awarded again. This time Calhanoglu was precise it was 1-0, which turned out to be the final score.The second half was the same as the first one – with Juve attacking and creating chances while Inter tried to stand firm. The hosts created much better opportunities to score than in the first half as Handanovic (again) gave the ball away but Juve didn’t used it, and Vlahović missed a great one in the 64th minute. Zakaria definitely had the best chance of the game in the 73th minute, but his thunderbolt shook the Inter post. In the end, Inter prevailed and remain in the title race with rivals Milan and Napoli, who are currently 3 points ahead. SERIE A – ROUND 31 Saturday Spezia – Venezia 1-0 (0-0)/Gyasi 90+3/Lazio – Sassuolo 2-1 (1-0)/Lazazri 17, Milinkovic-Savic 51 – Traore 90+4/Salernitana – Torino 0-1 (0-1)/Belotti 18 pen/Sunday Fiorentina – Empoli 1-0 (0-0)/Gonzalez 58/Atalanta – Napoli x-x (0-2)/Insigne 14 pen, Politano 37/Udinese – Cagliari x-x (2-1)/Becao 38, Beto 45 – Joao Pedro 32/Sampdoria – Roma 0-1 (0-1)/Mkhitaryan 27/Juventus – Inter 0-1 (0-1)/Calhanoglu (p) 45+5/