Short circuit
Juventus survives Inter
at home with 9-man squad
October 25, 1998
CNN/SI
TURIN, Italy -- Alessandro
Del Piero scored with four minutes remaining to give the nine-man Juventus
squad an unlikely 1-0 home win over Inter Milan on Sunday.
The Juventus captain slotted
home the game winner from close range after Gianluca Pagliuca had blocked
his 86th minute penalty awarded for a clumsy tackle by Fabio Galante on
Filippo Inzaghi.
The Italian champions appeared
to have lost all hope of victory when their French World Cup playmaker
Zinedine Zidane was dismissed for a two-footed challenge on Portugal's
Paolo Sousa in the 49th minute.
Zidane's Dutch teammate Edgar
Davids was also dismissed in the dying seconds for his second bookable
offense.
Victory lifted Juventus into
second-place in Serie A with 13 points, two adrift of early pacesetters
Fiorentina. Inter dropped to sixth after their second successive defeat.
The late penalty and the
Inter players protests revived memories of Juventus' controversial win
in last season's title game between the two sides, when the visitors were
denied a penalty for a blatant foul on Ronaldo.
But unlike his colleague
Piero Ceccarini, who earned the wrath of a nation for his mistake six months
ago, it was hard to claim that referee Domenico Messina, who sent off two
Juventus players, had favored the Turin side.
With Ronaldo still struggling
for fitness, Inter looked more intent on avoiding a repeat of last week's
5-3 home defeat by Lazio than recording their first win at the Delle Alpi
in five years.
The home side enjoyed most
of the possession, but the goal-scoring problems that have afflicted their
early season play returned to haunt them.
Inzaghi should have given
them a dream start in the second minute when a corner fell nicely for him
in the six-metre box but Pagliuca blocked well.
Seven minutes later, Del
Piero broke clear on the left of the area -- but he was pushed wide and
his shot was easy for Pagliuca to handle at the near post.
In the 19th, Del Piero again
dummied to cross with a free kick on the right and squared to Zidane whose
first-time shot from the edge of area was saved on the line by Pagliuca.
Midway through the half,
the football started to resemble the weather -- grey and misty -- until
Pagliuca brought things to life with a superb save from Mark Iuliano's
volley.
In the 38th minute, Inter
manager Luigi Simoni wisely substituted the already-booked Michael Silvestre
with Argentine Javier Zanetti after only the referee's leniency spared
the Frenchman a second booking and a red card.
In the closing minutes, Inter
had their best chance of the half when Pirlo released Benoit Cauet in the
area but his toe-poke was blocked by the Angelo Peruzzi.
In the second-half, Zidane
made his petulant tackle on Sousa. It left the ex-Juventus midfielder writhing
in agony, and Messina with no option but to reach for the red card.
Ironically, the prospect
of playing almost an entire half with 10-men inspired Juventus into the
kind of all-action form missing from their play since last season.
Del Piero and Inzaghi combined
dangerously in the 52nd on the counter-attack, but stout defense
and Pagliuca blocked Del Piero as he threatened to dribble through.
Inter finally threatened
in the 58th minute when Andrea Pirlo's free kick was well saved by Peruzzi.
With a scoreless draw looking
certain, Inzaghi was put clear in the area. The Italy international looked
to have missed his chance as he failed to control the ball and was pushed
wide by Galante.
But, as Inzaghi shielded
the ball, the defender struck too tightly to his man, even grabbing the
striker's shirt. When Inzaghi fell, a penalty was awarded.
Pagliuca guessed right, but
was unable to hold the ball and the rebound fell perfectly for Del Piero.
.
