Dimarco and Diouf: Inter win the Derby d’Italia in Perth

Inter’s Asian tour could not have ended on a better note: Chivu’s side beat Luciano Spalletti’s Juventus 2-1 in the final friendly of the Internazionale Summer Tour, before bidding farewell to Australia after an unforgettable few days of support and passion. Inter won the Derby d’Italia thanks to a goal in each half: Dimarco opened the scoring, finishing from Bonny’s assist, before Diouf doubled Inter’s lead after a superb team move. Conceição’s late goal was not enough for the Bianconeri. Inter celebrated at Optus Stadium, with Cristian Chivu taking plenty of positives from his side’s form with two weeks to go before the start of the league season. Dimarco impressed on his return, Diouf provided plenty of bursts of energy, and several young players showed off their potential.

THE MATCH There was another pre-match show, including the national anthems, with more than 50,000 fans in the stands, so the atmosphere at Optus Stadium was electric despite the Australian winter, although the opening stages of the match were short on flashes of inspiration or bursts of pace. Juventus and Inter began cautiously, taking turns to control possession and build their attacks. It took a moment of individual brilliance to spark the first half — and Ange-Yoan Bonny provided it. The Ivorian striker moved out to the left, beat his man with a spectacular double step and delivered a perfect ball into the box to meet Dimarco’s run. After scoring against AC Milan with his right foot, Federico also opened the scoring in the Derby d’Italia, this time with his left. He struck first time without breaking a stride, sending the ball into the bottom corner to Di Gregorio’s left. Inter continued to push after taking the lead and came close with two long-range efforts: a dangerous Calhanoglu free-kick and a Mkhitaryan effort from outside the box. On both occasions, the Juventus goalkeeper was equal to them. Chivu’s defence stood firm as Juventus looked to control possession, and the two teams went into the break with Inter 1-0 ahead.

At the start of the second half, Spalletti made six changes in one go in an attempt to shake things up, but Juventus failed to create any real danger around Provedel’s goal. Chivu also rotated his midfield, and it was Andy Diouf, introduced just a few minutes earlier, who doubled Inter’s lead at the end of a superb move that he had started himself. Diouf played the ball forward to Pio Esposito, who held it up well before laying it off to Pavard on the right. The Frenchman returned it to Pio, who looked up and picked out Diouf’s run. Arriving at pace, Diouf controlled the ball into his path and burst into the box before beating Di Gregorio with a right-footed finish that the goalkeeper could not hold. Inspired by the second goal, Inter came close to adding a third through two more substitutes, Iddrissou and Lavelli. The former delivered a superb low cross for the latter, but his effort went over. Juventus responded late on, and in the 85th minute Spalletti’s side pulled one back through Conceição. The Portuguese winger was played through by Miretti and found his mark past Martinez. The goal gave Juventus renewed belief, and they created two chances to level. Alajbegovic’s right-footed effort was held by Martinez, before Bovio produced a superb save to deny Kolo Muani. The final whistle brought smiles all-round to the Nerazzurri faithful, and the squad now return to Italy to continue their preparations for the new season.

JUVENTUS-INTER 1-2 | MATCH REPORT

Scorer: 20' Dimarco (I), 62' Diouf (I), 85' Conceicao (J)

JUVENTUS (4-2-3-1): 16 Di Gregorio; 15 Kalulu (2 Celik 46'), 3 Bremer (24 Rugani 64'), 6 Kelly (32 Cabal 46'), 27 Cambiaso (13 Boga 76'); 12 Douglas Luiz (8 Koopmeiners 46'), 5 Locatelli (29 Arthur 64'); 11 Zhegrova (7 Conceicao 46'), 22 McKennie (21 Miretti 64'), 10 Yildiz (17 Alajbegovic 46'); 30 David (9 Kolo Muani 46'). Substitutes: 1 Perin, 23 Pinsoglio, 42 Nava, 14 Milik, 41 Owusu, 43 Puche, 45 Oboavwoduo, 46 Licina, 47 Durmisi. Head Coach: Luciano Spalletti.

INTER (3-5-2): 49 Provedel (1 Martinez 64'); 28 Pavard (31 Bisseck 64'), 46 Bovio, 95 Bastoni (17 Diouf 58'); 11 Luis Henrique (54 Marello 86'), 23 Barella (16 Frattesi 58), 20 Calhanoglu (7 Zielinski 46'), 22 Mkhitaryan (5 Stankovic 58'), 32 Dimarco (30 Carlos Augusto 46'); 94 Esposito (53 Lavelli 64'), 14 Bonny (52 Iddrissou 58'). Substitutes: 12 Di Gennaro, 48 Mosconi, 54 Marello, 56 Maye, 58 Topalovic, 60 Farronato. Head Coach: Cristian Chivu.

Yellow Cards: 75' Rugani (J)

Referee: Tim Danaskos. Assistant referees: Brad Wright - Andrew Meimarakis. Fourth official: Liam Barclay.