Juventus overcome 10-man Inter

Juventus overcame the first major obstacle on the last leg of their Serie A title defence by edging out 10-man Inter Milan 2-1.

Juventus overcame the first major obstacle on the last leg of their Serie A title defence by edging out 10-man Inter Milan 2-1 in Saturday's Derby d'Italia. League leaders Juve were also eager to avenge November's 3-1 home defeat to the Nerazzurri which saw their unbeaten run ended one game shy of 50, and Fabio Quagliarella drew first blood within minutes. Inter dominated for long spells but, despite Rodrigo Palacio's second-half equaliser, they could not break down a resilient Bianconeri defence after Alessandro Matri found a winner 30 minutes from time. Esteban Cambiasso's late dismissal for a foul on Sebastian Giovinco then summed up a frustrating afternoon for Andrea Stramaccioni's men, who remain in sixth place. There was never any danger of this becoming a run-of-the-mill game but Quagliarella ensured it would be a riveting contest inside three minutes. The Neapolitan striker shaped to shoot from outside Samir Handanovic's area and his superb curling effort sailed over the Inter keeper's head to nestle in the net. Antonio Cassano came close to a rapid equaliser with a daisycutter from distance but Gianluigi Buffon stood tall to punch the ball clear for a corner. The Italy keeper then found himself pulling off a stunning parry on Rodrigo Palacio's header as Inter pressed on. Matri was flagged for offside as Juve grew back into the game before Arturo Vidal fluffed a chance to make it 2-0 when one-on-one with Handanovic. It was the Bianconeri backline who would preserve their side's lead towards the break, however, with Andrea Barzagli sweeping the ball off Cassano's feet before closing down a rampant Palacio. Andrea Pirlo's improvised curler was contained by Handanovic and, with Buffon snaffling a Palacio header in the 44th minute, it was still game on heading into the interval. So it proved in the 54th minute as Palacio squeezed through a sleepy Juve defence to level.. That state of affairs did not suit the champions, however, and they wasted no time in wresting back control of the tie. Having scored the first Quagliarella was heavily involved in the second as he beat Andrea Ranocchia to cut the ball back to Matri, who clipped a measured right-footed shot beyond Handanovic's reach. The outcome might have been very different had referee Nicola Rizzoli had awarded either of two strong penalty calls for Inter around the 70-minute mark. First, Palacio went to ground after contact with Barzagli. Cassano then appealed in vain after clashing bodies with Giorgio Chiellini. The late introduction of Giovinco for Quagliarella was designed to produce one final goal for Juve and, although he did not score, he played a vital role in securing the result. He had been on the pitch for 10 minutes when Cambiasso saw red for an over-zealous challenge on the diminutive striker, leaving Inter a man short and thwarting their late bid to force an equaliser.