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NOT BACKING DOWN YET!

By Shreyas Rai

Published on:

Updated on:
49

Having demolished Roma 3-1 in their last outing, Antonio Conte made 6 changes to his side that would face Juventus. Whereas the coach of the Old Lady introduced 4 new names to the team sheet.

Inter had gotten the better of Cristiano Ronaldo’s side in the reverse fixture beating them 2-0. But the Portuguese were firm about guiding his side to another victory and Champions League qualification next season.

But the reigning Italian champions came into the match with a lot of determination. Andrea Pirlo’s team needed 3 points out of the match if they wanted to play in the Champions League next season and they didn’t disappoint as they conquered Inter 3-2 in a mouth-watering Derby D’Italia

 

 

And Ronaldo didn’t disappoint as he gave Juventus the lead after the dangerous Portuguese scored a penalty off the rebound. Conte’s team has never looked afraid of challenges and they weren’t ready to back down.

Martinez came close to scoring a few times during the match. But it was Inter’s Belgium striker who broke the shackles for his team scoring a penalty for the Italian champions.

But once Juventus scored their second goal they were ready to put everything on the line to retain the scoreline. The attacking duo of Lukaku and Martinez came close to scoring for their team but didn’t convert their chances. And as the curtains started falling, Juventus started to defend with more confidence while attacking counters.

But the opportunity came knocking in the 83rd minute of the game as Inter came back into the game because of Chiellini’s own goal.

The drama didn’t end here as there was one more piece of action left. Juan Cuadrado scored his second goal of the match as he converted a penalty in the dying stages of the second half to give Juventus a valuable lead.

The first half of the game saw players diving in for horrendous tackles and the referee reached for his pocket more than once. A total of 6 yellow cards and 3 red cards were shown in the match and a game full of blood, sweat and cards looked evident.

The second half was no different as none of the players shied away from going into a tackle. Rodrigo Bentancur was shown the second yellow of his match for a debatable foul on Lukaku as he walked out of the pitch in despair. Brozovic followed the Uruguayan as he was also red-carded in extra-time.

 

 

In the next 45 minutes, it was very clear that Conte and Inter would come with a very attacking mindset. Both the teams created waves of attacks but most of the time failed to finish the move and lost possession a few times.

The game ended 3-2 with Juventus getting an important three points going into the last match of their Serie-A campaign.

 

HARDWORKING VAR

The highly debated technology once again raised a few eyebrows in Italy. Both the Italian giants were awarded a penalty each in the first half of the match. And the top scorer of Serie-A helped his team to gain the lead. Darmian had illegally tackled center-back Chiellini the referee awarded Juventus with a spot-kick.

 

 

And it seemed very clear that Cristiano won’t disappoint the Juventus fan. But Juventus couldn’t be in charge of the scoreline for too long. Martinez was fouled in the box by Dutch defender De Ligt and VAR once again intervened to rule in favour of Milan this time. With 5 penalties converted this season, Lukaku placed the ball to increase his penalty score to 6. He struck the ball sweetly to find the left-bottom corner leaving Szczęsnydiving on the right and seeing the ball go past him.

But VAR’s role in the match wasn’t finished yet. In the 83rd minute, a looping cross came into the Juventus box and Chiellini turned the ball into his net. The referee instead gave a foul on Chiellini instead of an own goal and VAR was called into action. And after a fair share of discussions and verbal fights, VAR officials believed that Chiellini had fouled Lukaku and not the other way around and the Inter equalized for the second time in the match.

 

 

2 PENALTIES AND 3 POINTS FOR JUVENTUS

As the referee blew for half-time both the teams headed back to their dressing rooms with contrasting emotions. Reigning champions Juventus led the game at halftime as Juan Cuadrado scored a wonderful goal in the dying minutes of the first half. After Cristiano Ronaldo broke the deadlock for his team, the league’s second-placed top-scorer Romelu Lukaku equalized for Inter.

Juventus were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute of the game after Chiellini was fouled by Darmian in the box. Ronaldo’s initial attempt at goal was saved by the Inter goalkeeper and captain, Samir Handanović but Ronaldo didn’t need a second invitation to find the back of the net on the rebound. He has increased his tally to 29 goals this season and has already scored 101 goals for the men in black and white.

 

 

But soon came the equalizer by the so-called- ‘King Of Italy’ as Inter drew level. Juventus gave away the second penalty of the game.

The Italian carnival had one last surprise left as Cuadrado was awarded the third penalty of the game. The Juventus team leapt in joy but their star-striker, Ronaldo was not on the pitch. But Cuadrado has always been a cool customer as he scored his second goal of the game to give Juventus their much-required lead as they held on to emerge victoriously.

 

 

BYE! BYE! BENTANCUR AND BROZOVIC

Whenever two champion teams meet there are always talking points in the game. And one of them came in the 55th minute of the game after Rodrigo Bentancur was shown his second yellow card leading to a red card. Lukaku and Inter had found some space in the middle of the park and as the Belgium striker steamed forward, he was brought down by Bentancur.

 

 

It seemed as if it was just a shrug of the shoulder but the referee had other plans as he showed the Uruguayan the way-out. Replays and commentators believed that Bentancur didn’t have too much contact with Lukaku but the official felt differently. The match officials didn’t have too much space to breathe in the whole match.

And in the 92nd minute, the referee had to reach for his pocket once again. But this time it was Inter midfielder Brozovic who was under the scanner. With just a few minutes left and Inter getting impatient, Brozovic went into a reckless tackle as he also had to leave the pitch.

 

Shreyas Rai

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