Juventus vs. Inter Milan: Winners and Losers from Serie A Game
Juventus are a point clear atop the Serie A standings following Tuesday's competitive 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in the Derby d'Italia.
Carlos Tevez opened the scoring for the Bianconeri inside the opening five minutes, and it wasn't until shortly after the hour-mark that Mauro Icardi equalised for the Nerazzurri.
The match also featured the Inter debut of Lukas Podolski, who quite nearly put Icardi through for a winner late in the second half.
There were several standout performances at Juventus Stadium, as well as one or two that were rather less impressive.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the encounter.
Winner: Samir Handanovic, Who Made Some Important Saves for Inter
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That Inter Milan trailed by only a goal at the break was down in large part to the heroics of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
The Slovenia international made four saves over the course of the 90 minutes, including a 34th-minute denial of Arturo Vidal and an acrobatic stop on Andrea Pirlo's free-kick in the 69th.
Then, deep into second-half stoppage time, the 30-year-old reached out to grab Alvaro Morata's cross, which was heading toward Patrice Evra at the far post.
"Inter really need to wrap Handanovic in some kind of cotton wool," tweeted Football Italia's Susy Campanale. "Without him, I daren't think..."
Loser: Daniel Osvaldo, Who Tried to Start a Fight with Teammate Mauro Icardi
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Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini deserves credit for going all out for the win in the 85th minute when he sent striker Daniel Osvaldo out onto the pitch in place of midfielder Hernanes.
But Osvaldo's first involvement was an attempt to get at teammate Mauro Icardi, with whom he was furious for shooting when he might have passed the ball.
Fredy Guarin had to get between the two of them.
"Osvaldo—wide open—loses his rag [because] Icardi shoots instead of passing," analysed ESPN FC's Gabriele Marcotti.
"Mancini reprimands Osvaldo for his reaction. Osvaldo tells him where to go," added BT Sport's James Horncastle.
Winner: Claudio Marchisio, Who Put in a Shift on Both Sides of the Ball
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Few Juventus players were as important in securing their point on Tuesday as Claudio Marchisio.
The influential midfielder completed 87 percent of his passes in the Derby d'Italia, according to Squawka, and also contributed tackles on Danilo D'Ambrosio (twice), Mauro Icardi and Mateo Kovacic.
With teammate Andrea Pirlo having something of an off night in the centre of the park, it fell to Marchisio to pick up the slack, which is exactly what he did.
Winner: Mauro Icardi, Who Has Yet to Lose to Juventus
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Incredibly, Mauro Icardi has yet to be on the losing side when facing Serie A giants Juventus.
As the Guardian contributor Paolo Bandini pointed out on Twitter, the Inter Milan striker has now faced the Bianconeri four times and has found the back of the net on five occasions against them.
On Tuesday, it was Icardi who scored the Nerazzurri's equaliser when he got on the end of Fredy Guarin's exceptional through-ball, held off Leonardo Bonucci and slipped the ball past Gianluigi Buffon.
Loser: Mateo Kovacic, Whose Red Card Derailed Inter's Momentum
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Inter Milan's late surge ended when Mateo Kovacic was ejected for a rash challenge on Stephan Lichtsteiner.
In the 85th minute, and with the Nerazzurri on the front foot as they chased a winner, manager Roberto Mancini had indicated he was going after all three points when he deployed Daniel Osvaldo in place of Hernanes.
But only a minute later, the guests were down to 10 men after Kovacic's foul on the Juventus right-back, and there ended any chance they had of recording a memorable win.
Winner: Arturo Vidal, Who Was Juve's All-Action Hero
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Tuesday's Derby d'Italia was still inside its opening five minutes when a moment of magic from Arturo Vidal gave Juventus the early lead.
Getting himself past marker Gary Medel with a sublime touch of the ball, the Bianconeri man then set up Carlos Tevez to score with a clever, back-heel pass.
"Outrageous back heel by Vidal," tweeted BT Sport's James Horncastle.
"Vidal playing his best game of the season," commented beIN Sports' Tancredi Palmeri.
Upon his exit in the 78th minute, Vidal had taken three shots, thrown himself into seven tackles and, impressively, made four interceptions, according to Squawka.
