Juan Cuadrado’s strike was cancelled out by a last-gasp Romelu Lukaku penalty, but the Coppa Italia semi-final descended into chaos with red cards for Lukaku, Cuadrado and Samir Handanovic.
The second leg will be played at San Siro on April 26 and the away goals rule no longer applies from this season, but it is the only round in the tournament to be played home and away.
Paul Pogba and Leonardo Bonucci were still out of action, with Federico Chiesa only fit for the bench, while Hakan Calhanoglu and Milan Skriniar didn’t make the trip to Turin. This was a replay of the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana Finals from last season, both won by the Nerazzurri in extra time, but they had lost the Serie A meeting last month.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
In the opening minutes, Angel Di Maria surged away from defenders and Samir Handanovic got down quickly to fingertip the angled drive around the base of the far post.
Mattia Perin was right behind a Federico Dimarco free kick and Edin Dzeko’s finish was also far too weak to trouble the goalkeeper.
The first real Inter chance was on 33 minutes, as Dzeko with his back to goal managed to lay it off, Perin needing his legs to parry the Marcelo Brozovic first-time strike.
Dusan Vlahovic didn’t get enough power on his header, but on the stroke of half-time Inter threatened twice. First Dimarco’s first touch was heavy, allowing Gleison Bremer to slide across and make the block, then on the resulting corner Danilo D’Ambrosio nodded over the bar.
Straight after the restart, Vlahovic’s diving header was just over from a Nicolò Fagioli assist, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s daisy-cutter skimmed the far post.
Arkadiusz Milik came off the bench and almost scored at full stretch when redirecting a wayward Juan Cuadrado strike, but could only deflect it inches wide.
The deadlock was finally broken when Adrien Rabiot’s cross was flicked on for Cuadrado in acres of space, as Handanovic tried rushing off his line to narrow the angle, but the Colombian kept his cool with the finish. It was his sixth career goal against Inter.
Manuel Locatelli threw himself in the path of a Romelu Lukaku effort inside the penalty area, but with 20 seconds left of stoppages, Bremer completely mis-timed his defensive header and with an outstretched arm caught the Denzel Dumfries knockdown. The referee saw it and awarded the penalty, converted with admirable cool by Lukaku to send Perin the wrong way.
However, Lukaku shouted at the Juventus fans behind the goal and seemed extremely agitated, so much that the referee gave him a second yellow card – the first was for scything down Federico Gatti.
The clashes continued after the final whistle, as Handanovic had to be held back from attacking Cuadrado after a brief conversation, leading to both of them being given red cards. More arguments continued in the tunnel, as once again the Derby d’Italia ends with bitterness and chaos.
Juventus 1-1 Inter
Cuadrado 82 (J), Lukaku pen 94 (I)
Juventus: Perin; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Cuadrado, Fagioli (Miretti 65), Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic; Di Maria (Chiesa 65); Vlahovic (Milik 74)
Inter: Handanovic; D’Ambrosio (Dumfries 81), Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic (Asllani 81), Mkhitaryan, Dimarco (Gosens 69); Dzeko (Lukaku 69), Lautaro Martinez (Correa 86)
Ref: Massa
Sent off: Lukaku 95 (I), Handanovic (I), Cuadrado (J)