Inter cut Juventus out of the title race with their first Serie A victory in Turin since 2012, decided by a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty that was retaken after a Wojciech Szczesny save.
This was a massive showdown, a head-to-head for third place and the chance to stay in the Scudetto hunt. Luca Pellegrini was suspended, with Federico Chiesa, Weston McKennie, Kaio Jorge and Marley Ake injured. Denis Zakaria returned to the bench, but Max Allegri switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Marcelo Brozovic was back after a calf injury and Stefan de Vrij only ready for the bench.
Lautaro Martinez was booked within a couple of minutes for a high boot that accidentally caught Manuel Locatelli in the face.
Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner had already gone out of play when Milan Skriniar’s header was palmed onto the upright by Wojciech Szczesny.
Samir Handanovic flapped at a cross so it went straight up in the air and as it came back down, Giorgio Chiellini prodded it onto the bar.
Paulo Dybala’s long-range strike dipped viciously onto the roof of the net, Handanovic had his gloves stung by Juan Cuadrado and Alvaro Morata’s header went across the face of goal from a Dusan Vlahovic cross.
Lautaro Martinez risked a second yellow card after 23 minutes for a late tackle on Chiellini, while Brozovic made a decisive block to stop Morata scoring after Cuadrado robbed Alessandro Bastoni.
Locatelli limped off in tears, as after bleeding from the forehead, he then sustained a right knee injury, replaced by Zakaria.
There was chaos just before half-time, as Morata trod on the foot of Denzel Dumfries inside the penalty area, prompting a spot-kick after a VAR review. Calhanoglu saw his terrible, central penalty parried by Szczesny and the referee gave a free kick to Juve for a supposed Calhanoglu foul on the rebound, which went into the net. However, VAR showed it had to be retaken due to Matthijs de Ligt encroachment.
At the second attempt, Calhanoglu did convert at the near bottom corner, despite Szczesny picking the right angle.
After that chaos, there were 10 minutes of added time in the first half.
Following the restart, Brozovic had to intercept a Dybala assist for Vlahovic in front of goal after a Handanovic error playing out from the back, then another desperate clearance denied Dybala a tap-in after a smart passing move.
Rabiot flung himself in the way of an Ivan Perisic counter, then set up Vlahovic to turn Skriniar and fire wide.
Zakaria came so close to an equaliser on 73 minutes, he surged forward from midfield and the ferocious strike was fingertipped onto the upright by Handanovic.
Good opportunities were ruined by heavy touches from substitutes Moise Kean and Arturo Vidal, while Tucu Correa blasted over from the edge of the box and Dybala fired straight at Handanovic.
Dybala also turned a free kick over in the final minute from a promising position.
Juve had two penalty appeals in stoppages, but Vlahovic tried to back into D’Ambrosio, while De Ligt went down screaming when Darmian only grazed his cheek with fingertips.
Juventus 0-1 Inter
Calhanoglu pen 45+5 (I)