Inter-Juventus: Alessandro Del Piero Leads Juve to a 2-1 Win

The game began with Inter playing slightly better and having more possession. The first scoring opportunity, though, was squandered by Del Piero after his free kick went over the bar in the sixth minute. The reigning champions responded with a dangerous free kick of their own but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s shot was competently dealt with by Gianluigi Buffon. In the first half an hour, they put a lot of pressure on the bianconerri’s defense but the closest they came to scoring was a header by Dejan Stankovic that hit the cross bar. Juve, on the other hand, missed a great opportunity when Del Piero collected a lovely through ball but his volley lob shot was off target. It is worth mentioning that both defenses were, to a great degree, flawless in the first 45 minutes and the game was in the balance at half time.

The second period started thunderously as Mauro Camoranesi received a deep through pass on the right flank and shot the ball past Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar to put Juventus in the lead in the 49th minute. However, a later replay showed that Camoranesi was in fact offside at the time of the pass which comes to prove the fact that Inter is no longer supported by referees as was claimed by most Serie A teams.

This was the time when Alessandro Del Piero reminded the world of his fantastic abilities. He was just flying around the pitch and Materazzi was at a loss every single time he had to guard Juve’s captain. Del Piero overcame his opponent on at least ten occasions causing great trouble for Julio Cesar who showed his great class in the second half by saving several dangerous shots by this same Del Piero. The inevitable second goal came in the 63rd minute when Del Piero chipped a nice ball towards David Trezeguet who scored a beautiful goal after a powerful left-footed volley shot.

Inter tried to respond as quickly as possible but their efforts seemed futile. Roberto Mancini put Maniche and the quick-footed Suazo into play in a desperate attempt to reverse the game. Del Piero, however, continued to play with Materazzi and it was pure luck that he missed the several opportunities he created, including a one-on-one situation when he could not get the ball past Julio Cesar.

The old maxim saying that if you miss too many opportunities your opponent will eventually score proved true once again. Inter’s pressure finally produced results in the 82^nd minute when Maniche put the ball in the net after a quick raid by Maicon down the right wing. The remaining ten minutes were absolutely crazy as Maniche hit the post behind Buffon and Del Piero missed one last chance for Juve.

The three added minutes had hardly passed when referee Farina blew the final whistle handing victory to the team that absolutely deserved it.

With this precious win, Juventus secured the third place and is still hoping to overtake Roma in the fight for the second. Inter, on the other hand, is now only four points in front of the Wolves and will have to work hard for the title, which was thought to be surely theirs just a few months ago.