A topsy-turvy meeting saw a remarkable outcome when Juventus roared back to secure a 4-4 draw at Inter Milan at the San Siro on Sunday evening.
Piotr Zielinski's spot kick early on kicked off proceedings in a terrific first period, where the youthful Bianconeri stormed back through Dusan Vlahovic and Timothy Weah to take a shock lead.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan's left footed strike from the edge saw the hosts claw back to level, before Zielinski's chance in the middle of the park proved valuable, when the Pole struck a second spot kick to provide a second lead of the game to the Neroazzurri.
Matters seemed to be wrapped up when Denzel Dumfries rolled a fourth in for Inter after a scramble in the box, though Kenan Yildiz' introduction after an hour turned the game back around.
The youngsters terrific finish on the break drew the deficit back to one inside the last 20 minutes, whilst ten minutes later the Turk powered in a second to complete a sensational recovery, and secure an impressive point against the Italian champions.
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Story of the match
Just days on from a hectic round of midweek action in the Champions League where Inter and Juventus had different fates, both sides had to suit back up for a titan clash at the San Siro at the top of Serie A.
The Neroazzurri extended their unbeaten run in all competitions on Wednesday, snatching an important 1-0 win at Young Boys in Switzerland, marking that their fifth consecutive victory.
Marcus Thuram’s injury time winner off the bench, merited a return to business as usual at the top end of the pitch against Juventus, with Lautaro Martinez joining his usual partner to replace both Mehdi Taremi and Marko Arnautovic.
At the opposite end, Stefan de Vrij came in for Yann Bisseck in the back three alongside Alessandro Bastoni and Benjamin Pavard, whilst the injury of Hakan Calhanoglu meant Zielinski took his place in central midfield.
The Bianconeri meanwhile suffered their first loss of the campaign on Tuesday evening when they received a blow in added time against VfB Stuttgart thanks to El Bilal Toure’s effort.
Despite this Thiago Motta had hoped his men could brush aside those cobwebs in an effort to continue their unbeaten Serie A start after nine fixtures, with Mario Gila’s own goal enough to secure an important three points against Lazio last time out in league action.
Michele Di Gregorio returned as the preferred choice in Italy’s topflight in between the sticks, with Andrea Cambiaso moving to right full back instead of Nicolo Savona.
Manuel Locatelli came in for Khephren Thuram in midfield, whilst the perhaps surprising choice by Motta saw Yildiz on the bench, with Weah given a chance in attack alongside Vlahovic and Francisco Conceicao.
An otherwise cagey start in Milan saw action spark into life inside a quarter of an hour, when Denzel Dumfries’ delivery from the right was reached first by Thuram, who was clipped late by Danilo that resulted in an early spot kick.
Zielinski’s opportunity to mark down his spot could not have gotten off to a better start when he assumed responsibility from 12 yards, before strolling it home to open the scoring.
Motta’s preference meanwhile for youth and exuberance meant a hungry away side were not going to stay down, with Inter’s lead lasting only four minutes.
Colombian fullback Juan Cabal looked to repay his manager’s faith following a third successive start and did just that with his involvement in the equaliser.
From the left Cabal floated a well-flighted cross towards the back post where Weston McKennie was arriving, who smartly set it into the path of Vlahovic, leaving the Serbian with the job to simply tap it home.
The Old Lady immediately had their tails up. Conceicao was sprang into action on the right when he drove and beat his man down the line, before squaring for a free Weah in the box who duly tapped in to complete a remarkable turnaround.
The Derby D'Italia was not disappointing. A youthful Juventus were more than threatening the Italian champions, though Simone Inzaghi’s established unit it seemed were always going to respond one way or another in front of a roaring crowd.
In even quicker fashion, Inter turned the game on its head, first in vintage style. Mkhitaryan led the charge after neat interplay with Thuram saw the Armenian midfielder let fly on the edge, bobbling his strike into the corner to return to level pegging.
Just minutes later the hosts aimed to mark their authority, whilst Juventus’ eagerness showed too much against a wily opponent.
This time Pierre Kalulu was the culprit, stepping in late in an attempt to block Dumfries that saw the Dutch fullback go down and earn another home spot kick, that was routinely dispatched for a second time by Zielinski, despite a touch from Di Gregorio.
A five-goal thriller inside 40 minutes, do not mind if we do. A high-quality half of football saw Inter hold a narrow lead and would have been thankful to Juventus’ enthusiasm that saw a Zielinski double from the spot give Inzaghi’s side the lead on two occasions.
It meanwhile did not take long for the scoring to restart in the second, whilst it saw a brutal blow to Juventus’ chances of taking anything from the game.
Seven minutes into the period, a corner on the left was initially flicked away by Danilo, though as a hurd of players were attracted to the centre of the box, the ball fell to Dumfries who had stood still, before firing into the far corner to add a fourth.
The quality remained after a presumably damaging addition to the scoreline for Juventus, though Motta’s side maintained a threat in forward areas, particularly through Conceicao who continued to probe.
Di Gregorio had to keep on his toes to avoid potential embarrassment. The Italian remained lively in between the sticks, making two fine stops with long distance efforts from Federico Dimarco and Martinez threatening.
Yildiz’ exclusion after a sharp start to life in black and white would have been a shock, but the young Turk was keen to make a point to Motta after his introduction with over an hour gone.
A neat break from the visitors saw the ball reach Yildiz out on the left, who direct as ever drove at his defender before shifting it onto his left, unleashing a pinpoint finish to beat Yann Sommer to make affairs interesting to say the least in the final 20 minutes.
Conceicao was a man on a mission in Milan, so direct and assertive with his attacking play. He had certainly given Dimarco and Bastoni problems throughout and was once again at it with ten minutes to go.
With the ball just inside the box, the Portuguese aimed to float into the middle in which Inter failed to clear adequately. It fell once more to Yildiz, who at the back post set himself before firing through Sommer to level to complete another astounding recovery.
It ultimately ended there. A manic contest, but a brilliant one. End-to-end, back and forth, these two rivals in a storied fixture delivered once again, though it meant questions remained regarding the top of Serie A.
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Player of the match
After a thrilling contest at the Giuseppe Meazza,, there were a host of players to choose from, and despite being without a goal, Conceicao ran a typically formidable Inter backline ragged from start to finish.
He led from the front. Sharp, skillful, direct, we could be here all day. Dimarco and Bastoni will be pleased to know they won’t have to face the Portuguese, at least for the foreseeable future.
Constantly giving cause for thought, from that initial assist to set up Weah, he was superb, affirming the decision to bring the forward to the club, where he has not disappointed.
