All huff and no puff! Weston McKennie goes full 90 in midfield as Juventus earn draw with Inter but USMNT star fails to make impact in tense Derby d'Italia clash

Playing at home, Juventus seized the lead in the 27th minute thanks to some fantastic play from Federico Chiesa. The Italian winger dragged both Denzel Dumfries and Nicolo Barella to him, creating space for Dusan Vlahovic to finish off the ensuing cutback to make it 1-0 Juve.

Just six minutes later, Inter were right back in it thanks to a Lautaro Martinez equalizer. The Argentine, who is Serie A's top scorer, was at the end of a spectacular Inter sequence, beginning with a Barella ball down the line for Marcus Thuram. The Frenchman then found Martinez's clever run into the middle, and Martinez did the rest as he finished with a shot to the far post to make it 1-1.

Juve largely kept Inter at bay throughout the second half, while the hosts did little to create anything on their own as the two teams ended up settling for a point apiece. Generally, the match lost all flow in the second 45, with both teams struggling to do anything on the ball in a real slog of a second half.

With the draw, the hierarchy atop Serie A remains the same, as Inter stay top of the league through 13 matches on 32 points.

Juventus are still just two points behind them, while the draw also ensures that Juve maintain a four-point lead on third-place Milan, who squeaked out a win over Fiorentina on Saturday behind a Theo Hernandez goal.

McKennie continues to start in midfield, which is good news for the USMNT.

The American started several games at wingback earlier in the season and, with Tim Weah still out with an injury, Massimiliano Allegri could have moved him back to that spot. However, McKennie started alongside Adrian Rabiot and Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, with Filip Kostic and Andrea Cambaisso taking the wingback spots.

McKennie, overall, was largely quiet, particularly in the second half, although that could be said about every player on the pitch during the second 45.

As for Weah, he's projected to be back in early December, which would give Juve a nice attacking option, either as a starting wingback or off the bench, in the final games before the new year.

Weston McKennie (6/10):

Plenty of energy and physicality in the midfield, which was helpful considering how much of a slog the game was. However, there were moments where someone, anyone, could have done something to break through, and that was never going to be McKennie as he struggled to impact the game with anything other than effort.

With no European competitions on the schedule this season, Juve's focus will remain on Serie A as they look to keep pace near the top of the table. Up next for McKennie and co. is a visit to Monza on Friday before a marquee clash with Napoli one week later.