Juventus tightened their grip on the Scudetto with a 14th win out of 15 games in Serie A, toppling Inter Milan in Tuirin as the Nerazzurri’s title hopes evaporated.
Mario Mandzukic was the hero of the Derby d’Italia, stooping to head in the only goal in the 66th minute, getting ahead of his marker to nod in Joao Cancelo’s pin-point cross.
Inter started positively but Roberto Gagliardini and Matteo Politano wasted inviting opportunities to open the scoring. Juve defended stoutly and once they had their goal, there seemed an inevitability to the result. Third-placed Inter are now 14 points adrift of the champions
Here we rate the Inter players.
INTER MILAN (4-3-3)
Samir Handanovic – 6: Stunning stop kept out Chiellini’s bullet header from a corner. Could do nothing for the goal.
Sime Vrsaljko – 7: Saved pal Skriniar with an excellent challenge to deny marauding Ronaldo a shot on goal. Bombed forward early on offering quality assistance to his midfielders. Contributed heavily with clearances (5), interceptions and tackles (both 2), as well as three key passes.
Milan Skriniar – 5: One of Europe’s best centre-backs looked shaky early on, but was typically combative as he found his feet.
Miranda – 5: Nine clearances led Inter, yet many of them were erratic and heaped pressure on his defence. Coped largely well with the threat of Ronaldo.
Kwadwo Asamoah – 4: The former Juve man would not have wanted to finish on the losing side, the fact he switched off to allow Mandzukic to sctoop and score will haunt him. Three tackles led Inter.
Roberto Gagliardini – 6: Hit the post as the game suddenly opened up, but didn’t strike it cleanly. How Inter would have loved him to have teed up Icardi rather than the other way round. The most fouled man in blue and black (3).
Marcelo Brozovic – 7: Pulled the strings as Inter pressed their hosts in a battling first 45. Milan’s Pjanic, his 94.1 per cent pass accuracy was the best of any starter, yet didn’t have the quality around him like his Bosnian counterpart.
Joao Mario – 5: Quick to react to clear the danger from Dybala as Juve asserted themselves. Was bright early on but faded badly after the break before being taken off.
Matteo Politano – 8: Cut inside from the right wing to fashion the best chance of the game, feeding Icardi who played in Gagliardini to hit the post. Later combined with Icardi only for Bonucci to block. A menace down the right otherwise. Surprisingly taken off.
Mauro Icardi – 7: Stupendous hold up play to bring Gagliardini into play for a chance that really should have been taken. A tireless worker who was given a thankful task in isolation up front.
Ivan Perisic – 4: Finds himself back in favour and was involved sporadically, but failed to create much with what he saw of the ball. Spurned one decent chance at goal in the first half. Four shots, none on target, told his story.
SUBS:
Borja Valero – 5: Added steel to Inter’s flagging start, but offered little else, rightly booked.
Keita Balde – 6: Came on to inject some pace and creativity. But hard to do so when Juve smothered anything Inter tried to create in attack.
Lautaro Martinez N/A: Brought on to try and revive his side’s hopes as Juve exerted a stranglehold. One sight of goal was fired wide.
