Post by Salem6 on Mar 23, 2008 9:51:49 GMT
Serie A Week 30 - 22/3/08 (19.30 UK)
Inter 1 - 2 Juventus
Camoranesi 49 (J), Trezeguet 63 (J), Maniche 83 (I)
Stadio Meazza
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Juventus blew the title race wide open by winning the Derby d'Italia 2-1 at San Siro, but Mauro Camoranesi's goal was offside.
The Derby d'Italia always represents a pivotal moment in the season, but even more so now that the Nerazzurri were aiming to seal the Scudetto. Roma's derby defeat opened up the gap to seven points despite Inter's 1-1 draw at Genoa, while Juve had a healthy margin in third place. Pele' saw red midweek and sat out a ban, joining Esteban Cambiasso, Olivier Dacourt, Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba in the stands. The Bianconeri only managed a dour goalless result at Empoli on Wednesday and were still without ex-Inter man Cristiano Zanetti.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira left Juve in bitter circumstances when the Calciopoli scandal broke, but the Frenchman was out injured. Inter last won this fixture 3-2 in April 2004 and were held in Turin earlier this season. It was a special day for Alex Del Piero, who matched Gaetano Scirea's record of 552 appearances for Juventus.
Del Piero had the first chance, curling a free kick over after six minutes. Moments later Juve swarmed around the Inter box and Del Piero volleyed a Pavel Nedved cross from six yards, bringing a brilliant one-handed point-blank reaction save from Julio Cesar.
Inter fought back from their own set-piece. A Luis Jimenez free kick found Nicolas Burdisso unmarked at the back post, then Dejan Stankovic's header clipped the crossbar from six yards in a chaotic move.
Del Piero hit another dead ball over, but Gigi Buffon got down brilliantly with one strong hand to tip Chivu's dipping free kick off the line at the bottom far cormer.
The Juventus captain flashed a shot across the face of goal and from a corner Julio Cesar gathered Nicola Legrottaglie's header.
Javier Zanetti almost got intro trouble under pressure from Nedved in his own area, but shook off two tackles to spark a dangerous counter-attack, earning the applause of the Stadio Meazza.
The Juve wall split to let Ibra's free kick through, though Buffon was equal to it, while Julio Cesar got behind a Momo Sissoko snapshot.
Straight after the restart a clearance fell to Nedved for his shot into the ground from seven yards, bringing an excellent reaction save out of Julio Cesar. From the resulting corner Nicola Legrottaglie nodded over.
Juventus took the lead in controversial circumstances moments later. Mauro Camoranesi was left clear to nutmeg Julio Cesar after a Del Piero free kick was not cleared effectively and put back into the box by Christian Molinaro, but replays show he was clearly in an offside position.
Buffon fingertipped a Luis Jimenez corner out from under the crossbar, but the Chilean made way for David Suazo and a 4-3-3 system. The Honduran made an immediate impact, as he intercepted a Juve corner and sprinted up the other end of the field, but Molinaro did enough to slow him down and he lost the ball in the box.
Ibra's backheel set up Suazo to drill over, but the Bianconeri doubled their lead with David Trezeguet. Burdisso's error let Del Piero's chipped pass go over him and Trez smashed in the left-foot volley from six yards.
There was more controversy moments later when Chivu was halted for offside when he had run on to the ball touched by Nedved, but his shot was saved by Buffon anyway.
Juve were so nearly 3-0 up on 67 minutes. Del Piero skipped past Marco Materazzi, but he and Trezeguet had shots beaten away by Julio Cesar as the ball ricocheted around the box.
Nedved clattered into the advertising boards, reviving a nosebleed he had suffered in the first half. Del Piero had the chance to shoot on goal, but stopped just short of the box when he saw Materazzi was down injured.
Moments later Del Piero dispossessed Burdisso, but hesitated before crossing for Trezeguet and allowed Douglas Maicon to shake him off at the byeline. Soon after another Del Piero pass was just a bit too long for Trezeguet, who would've been clear from nine yards.
Suazo tried a dummy to let the pass through for Ibra, but didn't realise there was nobody behind him and the chance went begging. Camoranesi charged down an Ibrahimovic free kick.
Juventus wasted another golden opportunity to put the result beyond doubt with a classic counter. Del Piero and Trezeguet exchanged several passes with only the goalkeeper to beat, but the captain fired straight at Julio Cesar!
Inter threw on Mario Balotelli, who scored a brace against Juve in the Coppa Italia. Within 30 seconds the Nerazzurri were back in the game. Douglas Maicon dribbled past three players and rolled across for Nuno Maniche to tap in from four yards.
Burdisso was booked for hacking down Camoranesi on the counter, but the Nerazzurri poured forward and laid siege to the Juve box in stoppages. On 91 minutes Maniche ran on to a splendid Stankovic flick and cracked his shot against the base of the upright!
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Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Burdisso, Materazzi, Maxwell; Stankovic, Zanetti, Chivu (Balotelli 82); Jimenez (Suazo 53); Ibrahimovic, Cruz (Maniche 64)
Juventus: Buffon; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Salihamidzic, Camoranesi, Sissoko, Nedved (Nocerino 86); Trezeguet (Iaquinta 82), Del Piero
Ref: Farina
www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sa0708/int-juv.html