Juventus beat leaders to close the gap

Juventus beat leaders to close the gap

Juventus won the Derby d'Italia 2-1 against Inter Milan on Saturday night to reduce the Nerazzurri's lead at the top of Serie A.

A free-kick that appeared to deflect in off Inter defender Lucio put the home side ahead in the 21st minute of a tense yet intriguing match at Turin's Stadio Olimpico.

Samuel Eto'o brought Inter level five minutes later but a goal worthy of winning any match from Claudio Marchisio earned the Bianconeri the three points in the 58th minute.

The home side even had Felipe Melo sent off in the closing stages but they held on for a win that moves them to within five points of Inter, who now lead AC Milan by only four points.

Juve appeared highly motivated to win the first of two key games this week, with a crucial Champions League decider against Bayern Munich to come on Tuesday.

And they were ahead after 21 minutes in confusing circumstances.

Diego's free-kick from the right tempted Felipe Melo, Giorgio Chiellini and Alessandro Del Piero to the ball, with the latter seeming to get the final touch on to Lucio, whose knee deflected the ball past a wrong-footed Julio Cesar.

Inter coach Jose Mourinho was furious the free-kick had been given in the first place for a push by Walter Samuel on Del Piero and he ironically applauded referee Massimiliano Saccani, who sent him to the stands.

At least his team showed the right kind of reaction on the field.

Gianluigi Buffon was forced into an excellent save in the 25th minute as Eto'o found room inside the penalty area, and the striker was left free again to nod Inter level moments later.

Inter took a quick free-kick to send Dejan Stankovic out wide and his cross reached the Cameroonian, who headed back across Buffon into the corner.

There were chances at both ends in a very open but equally competitive game.

Stankovic's shot in the 58th minute sparked a goalmouth scramble that almost resulted in the visitors going ahead but it was Juve that emerged with the ball and promptly took it to the other end to score the winner.

Mohamed Sissoko's shot was only parried by Julio Cesar and Marchisio showed incredible composure to first skip past Walter Samuel and then lift the ball over the Inter goalkeeper into the back of the net.

Inter found themselves in the unusual position of having to chase the game and Mourinho's assistant coach Beppe Baresi showed how well he knew his boss by sending Mario Balotelli on as a third attacker.

But he seemed to have forgotten to put studs on his boots as he spent most of the time slipping and sliding on a damp pitch.

He was unable to make the desired impact as tensions rose towards the end of the match.

Felipe Melo was shown a second yellow card after he aimed an elbow at Balotelli, who was also shown a yellow card for his theatrical dive.

The incident sparked a scuffle involving Buffon and Thiago Motta, which ensured ample stoppage time was added, but there was still not enough time for the Nerazzurri to find an equaliser as they were beaten for only the second time all season.