Internazionale v Juventus Live Commentary & Result, 2/2/21, Coppa Italia

That brings an end to our coverage of the Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg clash between Inter and Juventus at San Siro. Thank you very much for joining us. Goodbye!

Before these two sides meet again for the second leg at Allianz Stadium, Inter travel to Fiorentina in Serie A. Juventus, on the other hand, host third-placed Roma in their next league match.

After a tightly-contested match, Juventus take a valuable lead into the second leg. Despite Martinez putting the Nerazzurri in front on nine minutes, Ronaldo levelled the score from the spot 17 minutes later following intervention from VAR. The Portuguese attacker added his second shortly after, rounding Handanovic to punish a defensive mix-up. Although Conte’s side pressed for an equaliser in the second half, they could not break down Juventus, who held on to claim a first-leg victory.

90' + 5' FULL TIME: INTER 1-2 JUVENTUS

Morata

Yellow Card

90' + 4' Juve are seeking to hold the ball in the corner and run down the clock now. Morata, however, is too eager to regain possession from Barella, fouls him from behind, and goes into the book.

A. Sánchez

Yellow Card

90' + 2' Sanchez lunges in late on Chiesa and catches the attacker with a dangerous tackle deep inside the Juventus half. He is rightfully shown a yellow card.

90' There will be four added minutes at the end of this match.

F. Chiesa

D. Kulusevski

90' Kulusevski is also brought off for Chiesa. It remains 2-1.

G. Chiellini

W. McKennie

90' In looking to see out the match, Pirlo opts to replace McKennie with Chiellini.

88' SAVE! McKennie tries his luck from the edge of the box, and his effort is well saved by Handanovic.

88' Despite having four shots on target thus far in the second half, the Nerazzurri are yet to find an equaliser. Can they do so in the final minutes?

Arthur

Yellow Card

87' Arthur picks up a late yellow card for a cynical foul on Martinez.

A. Pinamonti

A. Bastoni

85' Bastoni also makes way for Pinamonti.

S. Sensi

M. Brozović

85' With time running out, Conte brings off Brozovic for Sensi.

83' Juventus, last year’s Coppa Italia runners-up, are beginning to find a little more control now as they play the ball around on the halfway line.

81' The resulting set-piece is delivered towards the penalty spot by Eriksen, but the away side easily clear their lines.

80' Bastoni knocks the ball beyond Cuadrado before being fouled by the full-back. Inter have a free-kick in a dangerous position down the left wing.

78' GOOD EFFORT! Buffon’s poor pass out from the back is collected by Perisic, who tees up Eriksen. From the edge of the area, the Dane’s right-footed shot is collected by the Italian goalkeeper, who was quickly down to his left.

Morata

Cristiano Ronaldo

77' It is a double change for Juventus, as the goalscorer, Ronaldo, is replaced by Morata.

Arthur

R. Bentancur

76' With 14 minutes of normal time left to play, Arthur enters the fray in place of Bentancur.

75' NOT FAR AWAY! Perisic's first involvement sees him drive down the left flank and deliver a cross into the box. Barella acrobatically meets the delivery, but his audacious attempt fizzes wide to the left of Buffon’s goal.

C. Eriksen

A. Vidal

73' As we enter the closing stages, Conte calls on Eriksen, who replaces Vidal.

71' JUST WIDE! The game is becoming stretched now, as Inter launch a dangerous counter. Vidal finds Brozovic on the edge of the penalty area, and he flicks it around the corner for Martinez. The Argentine frontman takes a touch to set himself before sending a well-struck effort just wide of the near post.

Danilo

F. Bernardeschi

69' After coming under increased pressure, Pirlo brings off Bernardeschi for Danilo. It remains 2-1.

69' WHAT A SAVE! Sanchez shows great strength and awareness to hold off a number of Juventus defenders inside the away side’s box. After turning into space, he lays the ball off to Darmian to his right, and his left-footed shot from close range is palmed away by Buffon. The rebound also evades Martinez. Inter should be level!

68' GREAT BLOCK! Sanchez creates a yard of space on the edge of the visitors’ box and cuts onto his right foot. De Ligt tracks his run all the way, and lunges in to block the Chilean’s curling effort on goal.

I. Perišić

A. Young

66' Inter make their first alteration of the match with Perisic replacing Young. There are 24 minutes of normal time left to play.

65' After some neat link-up play, the away side work the ball over to the left for Bernardeschi, and his cross into the box is a fraction too high for McKennie.

63' Juventus have struggled for control thus far in the second half, having had just 38 per cent of the possession.

61' Brozovic picks the ball up in a promising area just outside the Juventus box and seeks to play a throughball in behind for Martinez to chase. The pair are not on the same page and the pass runs out for a goal-kick.

59' McKennie and Barella both compete for an aerial ball, and the former is adjudged to have fouled the Inter midfielder. Free-kick to the hosts down the left flank.

57' OFF THE LINE! Juventus sloppily lose the ball deep inside their own half following a free-kick, and Sanchez goes for goal from the centre of the box. The attacker beats Buffon, but Demiral gets back onto the line to divert the strike out for a corner.

55' SMART STOP! Cuadrado once again drives Juventus forward. This time, he surges down the right and picks out Bernardeschi on the edge of the box, and his curling effort is palmed behind for a corner.

53' Much like the first half, neither side are able to find a rhythm because of a succession of fouls. Young, who has also already been booked, catches Cuadrado deep inside the visitors’ half.

51' CHANCE! Bernardeschi creates a yard of space for himself down the right and floats a cross into the Inter penalty area. Demiral meets it, but his looping header is easily claimed by Handanovic.

50' Pirlo’s side break with real pace through McKennie in the centre of the pitch, who is clipped by Vidal after playing a forward pass looking for Ronaldo’s run. The Chilean is already on a yellow card, so must tread carefully now.

49' SAVE! The resulting free-kick is sent into the area by Brozovic, and is initially dealt with by the visitors. Young, however, picks up the loose ball and forces Buffon to tip a long-range effort behind for a corner.

M. de Ligt

Yellow Card

47' Inter are seeing a lot of the ball in the opening moments of the second half. Barella drives forward down the right and is impeded by De Ligt, who subsequently picks up a yellow card.

46' We are back underway! Calvarese, the referee, blows his whistle and the Nerazzurri get the second half kicked off.

Conte will be hoping to see his side respond after the break now that they are behind. Inter started well, although both Sanchez and Martinez grew increasingly isolated as the half went on. The Inter manager will be hoping that Barella can provide the spark in transitional phases, as he did for the opening goal. Pirlo, meanwhile, will want to see his side carry on in much the same fashion in the second half. The visitors found joy down the left-hand side of the field just before half-time, and that is likely an area that they will continue to target.

Following an action-packed opening half, Juventus lead take a one-goal lead into the break. After falling behind after nine minutes to a neat Martinez finish, the visitors levelled the score midway through the first half from the spot. After consulting VAR for a foul on Cuadrado by Young, a penalty was awarded and Ronaldo emphatically finished the spot-kick. Shortly after, the Portuguese attacker had his second, capitalising on a defensive mix-up to round Handanovic and fire into the bottom-right corner.

45' + 3' HALF TIME: INTER 1-2 JUVENTUS

Cristiano Ronaldo

Yellow Card

45' + 2' Ronaldo is the next player to be booked as he handles the ball in seeking to turn Cuadrado’s cross beyond Handanovic.

45' There is going to be a brief stoppage in play as Vidal is down and in need of treatment after being caught in an aerial challenge by Bernardeschi. He is now back to his feet and able to continue.

45' There will be one minute of added time at the end of this half.

44' Bastoni strides forward and whips an inviting cross into the Juventus box from deep. Buffon watches it all the way and comes out to collect it.

43' GOOD EFFORT! Juventus once again look to attack down the left, but Bernardeschi’s cross is headed out of the box. Bentancur picks up the loose ball, sets himself, and fires a long-range strike straight at Handanovic.

41' After a dangerous move down the left wing, Ronaldo cuts inside onto his right foot, before curling an effort beyond the far post from range.

40' Thus far, Ronaldo has scored with every shot that he has taken. Clinical.

A. Vidal

Yellow Card

38' Vidal is the latest player to go into the book after sliding into Ronaldo from behind as the Juventus attacker looked to break. He left the referee with no choice there.

36' Darmian impedes Bernardeschi midway inside the Juventus half and the away side win a free-kick.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Goal

35' GOAL! The away side take the lead! A poor back pass from Skriniar and a mix-up between Handanovic and Bastoni allows Ronaldo to race through on goal. From an acute angle, the striker's left-footed shot strikes the far post and bounces in. 2-1.

33' WIDE! The resulting set-piece is delivered from the right by Sanchez, and Skriniar rises well but his header just fizzes past the far post.

Alex Sandro

Yellow Card

32' Alex Sandro is shown a yellow card after cynically clipping Darmian’s heels when he looked to be away down the right. Inter now have a free-kick in a dangerous position.

30' Skriniar looks to drive the home side up the field, although he is tripped by Kulusevski and wins a free-kick on the halfway line.

28' Sanchez looked to be in behind the visitors’ defence following a long, searching pass from Skriniar, but he just made his run a fraction too late and is flagged as offside.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Penalty Goal

26' GOAL! Juventus are level! From the spot, Ronaldo fires straight down the middle and into the roof of the net. Handanovic stood no chance with that strike. 1-1.

A. Young

Yellow Card

25' Young is shown a yellow card for the foul on Cuadrado which led to the penalty.

24' PENALTY! There is a coming together at the back post inside the Inter box, as Young looks to pull Cuadrado as he tries to latch onto a cross from the left. After consulting VAR, the referee awards Juventus a penalty.

22' Ronaldo looks for a quick one-two with Kulusevski inside the Inter penalty area, but Skriniar stands his ground and prevents the Portuguese attacker reaching the return pass.

21' Juventus are very patient in their approach, looking to work an opening from deep. Thus far, however, they are unable to find a way through.

19' Bentancur pushes Vidal to the floor down the right flank. Free-kick Inter.

18' Following a free-kick from a central area, Juventus work the ball over to the right for Cuadrado, and his left-footed cross is headed to the edge of the box by Barella. Alex Sandro picks it up and lashes a first-time effort well over the bar.

16' The rhythm of the game is being interrupted by a succession of fouls. This time, Brozovic clips Kulusevski and Juventus get a free-kick midway inside the Inter half.

M. Demiral

Yellow Card

14' Demiral is the first player to pick up a yellow card after cynically sliding through the back of Sanchez deep inside the hosts’ half. He can have no complaints with that decision.

13' The Nerazzurri took the lead with just their first shot of the match.

11' Cuadrado catches Sanchez down the left flank and Inter are awarded a free-kick.

L. Martínez

Goal

9' GOAL! Inter take the lead! Following a quick break, Sanchez lays the ball off to Barella, who drives down the right flank and whips a low cross into the Juventus box. Martinez gets ahead of De Ligt and steers the delivery beyond Buffon from the centre of the box. 1-0.

N. Barella

Assist

9' That is a ruthless break from Inter, and Sanchez deserves credit for holding the ball up and bringing Barella into play. From there, the Italian midfielder’s cross was inch-perfect for Martinez to attack and fire into the back of the net.

8' Martinez presses De Ligt high up the field, and the Dutchman’s clearance ricochets off the attacker and behind for a goal-kick.

6' Barella and Sanchez combine on the edge of the Juventus box, before the Italian scoops a lofted pass into the area for Vidal to attack. Demiral watches it all the way and deals with the threat.

4' Inter look for a clever switch of play with Darmian breaking in behind down the right flank, although Vidal’s pass just evades the wing-back and runs through for Buffon to collect.

3' The visitors have started well and are comfortably knocking the ball around just inside the hosts’ half. Bentancur looks for Kulusevski ahead of him, but his loose pass goes straight to Bastoni.

1' Kick off! The referee, Gianpaolo Calvarese, blows his whistle and Juventus get the game underway.

The teams are out, and kick-off will soon be upon us here at San Siro.

Antonio Conte's team won the Serie A clash between these two sides earlier in the season, and it was their first triumph over the Old Lady in eight games.

Inter secured their place in the semi-finals after a last-minute winner from Eriksen saw them defeat their local rivals, AC Milan, 2-1 in the last round. In all competitions, the Nerazzurri are currently on a six-match unbeaten streak. During that run, goals from Vidal and Barella fired them to a two-goal home victory against Andrea Pirlo’s team. Juventus, on the other hand defeated SPAL 4-0 to book their place in the latter stages of the Coppa Italia. Since losing in Serie A to Inter, Juventus have won their following four fixtures, scoring 10 goals in that time without conceding.

The hosts make six changes from their recent four-goal victory over Benevento in Serie A. De Vrij, Darmian, Brozovic, Vidal, Young and Sanchez come in to start in place of Ranocchia, Achraf Hakimi, Gagliardini, Eriksen, Perisic and Romelu Lukaku, who misses out through suspension. The Old Lady’s team, meanwhile, features seven alterations from their previous league outing. In come Buffon, De Ligt, Demiral, Alex Sandro, Rabiot, Bernardeschi and Kulusevski to replace Szczesny, Bonucci, Chiellini, Danilo, Arthur, Chiesa, and Morata.

JUVENTUS SUBS: Wojciech Szczesny, Carlo Pinsoglio, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Radu Dragusin, Danilo, Gianluca Frabotta, Arthur, Nicolo Fagioli, Daouda Peeters, Federico Chiesa, Alvaro Morata.

INTER SUBS: Daniele Padelli, Stefan Radu, Aleksandar Kolarov, Danilo D'Ambrosio, Andrea Ranocchia, Stefano Sensi, Roberto Gagliardini, Matias Vecino, Ivan Perisic, Christian Eriksen, Andrea Pinamonti.

JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Gianluigi Buffon; Juan Cuadrado, Matthijs de Ligt, Merih Demiral, Alex Sandro; Federico Bernardeschi, Rodrigo Bentancur, Adrian Rabiot, Weston McKennie; Dejan Kulusevski, Cristiano Ronaldo.

INTER (3-5-2): Samir Handanovic; Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni, Milan Skriniar; Matteo Darmian, Nicolo Barella, Marcelo Brozovic, Arturo Vidal, Ashley Young; Lautaro Martinez, Alexis Sanchez.

Inter come into this game off the back of a 4-0 home victory over Benevento in Serie A. Juventus will also be hoping to continue their good form following a two-goal win away to Sampdoria in their most recent outing.

Hello and welcome to live match coverage of the Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg clash between Inter and Juventus at San Siro.

Internazionale v Juventus Live Commentary, 2/2/21

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