Juventus vs Inter Milan: 3 takeaways

Juventus beat Inter 1-0 in a Serie A match on Friday to move to 43 points from 15 matches. They have extended their lead over 2nd placed Napoli to 11 points, and are almost certain to retain the league title.

Inter meanwhile stay on 29 points in spite of being the better team in the first half of the match. Juve came back strongly in the second half, and Mario Mandzukic scored the winner in the 66th minute with a header.

Both teams had 50 percent ball possession in the match, and Juve had 5 shots on goal compared to Inter’s 1. Inter's Roberto Gagliardini hit the woodwork in the first half, and they were also unlucky to miss out on a great opportunity to score.

The Juve defence was tormented in the first half, and were lucky not to concede goals. Inter should be cursing themselves for letting Juve off the hook, and missed out on an opportunity to turn the tables in Serie A.

Luciano Spalletti, the Inter coach, was a bit theatrical in his pre and post-match talks, but could not salvage a point for his side.

We now look at 3 talking points from the match.

#1 Inter troubling Juve via the right flank

For the majority of the first half, Inter troubled Juve through the right flank. Matteo Politano and Sime Vrsaljko combined well to trouble the Juve left-back Joao Cancelo, who remains vulnerable defensively.

He makes good overlapping runs, and the Juve goal came from a cross delivered by him, but he will have to work on his defensive side. Vrsaljko cut into the centre of the pitch most of the time, and allowed Politano make those foraying runs through the right wing.

Moreover, the Inter midfielders started playing long diagonal balls to the right flank from their own half, and caught the Juve defence off guard. Ivan Perisic missed another opportunity to score as he mis-kicked the ball after a cross was delivered at him.

The attacks were less through the left wing as Matteo Di Sciglio stayed in his own half most of the time. Still, Joao Mario and Perisic combined at times and tried to to trouble Di Sciglio with quick one-twos. The Juve defence was stretched wide by the Inter wingers & full-backs, and looked vulnerable.

#2 Allegri’s tactical changes worked for Juve

Allegri made some tactical changes in the second half which helped Juve win the match. He switched the full backs to stop the attacks through the right flank by Politano and Vrsaljko. As a result, Cancelo was somewhat relieved and able to concentrate more on his overlapping runs. The goal came from his cross.

Allegri also shifted Mandzukic to left wing to combine with Cristiano Ronaldo. Mandzukic’s frequent switches to the left flank made his markers move with him and created spaces in and around the Inter penalty box.

Blaise Matuidi and Paolo Dybala exploited those spaces and troubled Samir Handanovic with their attempts at goal. Matuidi had almost scored a goal with a powerful shot, but it was blocked by an Inter defender.

Mandzukic scored his 42nd goal for Juve in the process. Thus, Allegri again demonstrated why he is one of the best coaches in the world.

#3 Mauro Icardi was a flop and should have been replaced

Much was expected of Icardi, but he disappointed the Inter supporters. He has scored 11 goals this season, but was marked out of the match by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, the Juve centre-backs. Juventus played a high defensive line at times, but Icardi could not take advantage of that with one of his runs. However, it also has to be remembered that he is more of a penalty box striker and not a ball-carrying centre forward.

To make matters worse, none of the Inter players tried playing a through ball to him when Juve were playing a high line. Chiellini was dropping back very quickly once Juve lost possession, but still a good through ball could have set Icardi free and tested the Juve defence.

He should have been taken off, but Inter did not have a good replacement for him. Perisic should have cut inside more frequently to assist Icardi, but even he failed to do that.