Inter Sink Juventus To Clinch Coppa Italia
12 May, 2022
Inter Milan have secured their first Coppa Italia title since 2011 after defeating Juventus 4-2 in extra-time on Wednesday night.
Coppa Italia Final
Result: Juventus 2-4 Inter Milan
Date: 11 May 2022
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
Inter got off to the perfect start as Nicolo Barella opened the scoring with a powerful strike from the edge of the box that sailed through a host of bodies before finding the back of the net.
After the slow start, Juventus started seeing more of the ball after the 20-minute mark as Dusan Vlahovic and Paulo Dybala managed to force Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic into a couple saves. Massimiliano Allegri's charges continued pushing for an equaliser and they should have been level on 31 minutes but Dybala failed to his the target from close-range.
Juventus were nearly caught out at the other end when Ivan Perisic burst through the defence to pick out Hakan Calhanoglu, who saw his shot block before Marcelo Brozovic fired over the crossbar from the rebound.
However, Allegri's men restored parity five minutes after the break when Alvaro Morata found the back of the net after being picked out by Alex Sandro.
The turnaround was complete two minutes later when Vlahovic put Juventus ahead with a close-range finish after his initial effort was blocked by Handanovic following Dybala's through-ball.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi responded by throwing on Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco for Matteo Darmian and Danilo D'Ambrosio with 25 minutes left on the clock .
The reigning Italian champions were given a lifeline on 80 minutes after being awarded a penalty for Leonardo Bonucci's foul on Lautaro Martinez. Calhanohlu stepped up and rifled the ball into the top corner to level matters.
That proved to be the final goal of the second half as neither side could another goal, which sent the final to another 30 minutes of extra-time.
Inter were awarded a second penalty nine minutes into the first half of extra-time following Matthijs de Ligt's on Stefan de Vrij, which allowed Perisic to convert on this occasion.
Perisic then gave the Milan outfit a two-goal cushion in the 102nd minute after collecting a pass from Dimarco before bending one into the top corner to seal the title for his side.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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