Inter Milan 4-2 (AET) Juventus
Two extra time strikes from Ivan Perisic gave Inter Milan a spectacular win after a pulsating 120 minutes of Coppa Italia final football.
Nicola Barella had given Inter an early lead with a sensational strike, before Juventus hit back through Alex Sandro and Dusan Vlahovic, and a late Hakan Calhanoglu penalty took the game to extra time.
And then Perisic took the trophy out of the grasp of the Old Lady.
Breath-taking stuff!
Highlights of the game
Inter are in a two way battle for the Serie A title with city rivals Milan while the Old Lady’s league season is pretty much over, but any thoughts that might play into the Bianconeri’s hands were quickly dispelled by Azzurri star Barella when he collected a pass from Marcelo Brozovic outside the penalty area, took a touch and curled a beauty into the top right corner, giving Marria Perrin no chance.
Max Allegri tried to get his players going with fierce shouts from the touchline and he got a response as Samir Handanovic was forced to pull out two top drawer saves in two minutes. First Paulo Dybala took a pass from Juan Cuadrado and arrowed a shot towards the bottom right corner but the Inter keeper got down well to save. And he made another brilliant stop in the same corner when Vlahovic fired his shot in.
Inter rode the brief Juventus storm and came close to doubling their lead when Lautaro Martinez fed Calhanoglu and his low shot was well saved by Perrin. The Old Lady had another good opening when Federico Bernardeschi sent in a superb cross but Matthijs de Ligt’s header was comfortably dealt with by Handanovic.
Juventus will argue they had the better of the first half and they turned things around dramatically at the start of the second. And it was a rare howler from Handanovic which let the Old Lady back into the game. Inter seemed to have dealt with the threat of Vlahovic but when the ball landed at the feet of Sandro, he fired a 20 yard shot straight at the keeper and, incredibly he just stuck a foot out and deflected the ball high into the net!
That was on 50 minutes and two later Juventus were in front. And this time it came from a Nerazzurri corner. Juventus cleared and broke quickly as Vlahovic burst through on goal and though Handanovic blocked his shot he reacted quickly to fire home the rebound.
Maybe Inter’s league pressure was telling after all.
Maybe…maybe not, because they stuck at the task and levelled on 80 minutes. Leonardo Bonucci fouled Lautaro Martinez in the box and the referee pointed to the spot and Calhanoglu dispatched the penalty high into the top right corner to level.
Juventus had been ten minutes from glory and ten minutes into extra time they were in disarray. First De Ligt stuck out a leg and tripped Stefan de Vrij and Perisic slotted home the penalty to make it 3-2.
And the lethal Croat won the night with a stunning strike from the left edge of the penalty area to the top right corner.
Key statistics
The Coppa Italia 2022 betting odds pitched Inter as favourites to win the trophy, at odds of 1.67 and, while I Nerazzurri dominated possession, the shot counts tell us just what a great game this was as the two sides both had 17 shots; and eight each on target.
What’s next?
AC Milan fans will have followed the Coppa Italia 2022 updates with interest as the race for the Scudetto looks like it will go down to the wire, with the two Milan clubs separated by two points and with two games to play.
This weekend Milan host Atalanta while Inter are away to Cagliari in the penultimate round of fixtures. Both face teams which desperately need points; Atalanta surprisingly find themselves in eighth position and in danger of missing out on European football, while Cagliari are in 18th place and a point from safety, but with a better goal difference than 17th placed Salernitana.
Juventus have a tasty fixture at home to Lazio in a fourth versus fifth clash. While Lazio can’t gatecrash the top four they can keep hold of their Europa League spot; and the match brings together the two hottest shots in Italy as Vlahovic comes face to face with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile, who leads the race for the Capocannoniere on 27 goals, four ahead of the second placed Serb.
The Old Lady can still steal third place from Napoli if they win their final two games and the Azzurri slips up.
Keep it here at SBOTOP as the battles for glory and survival in Serie A reach their climax over the next two weeks. But tonight it’s time to celebrate for the Nerazzurri.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
