Inter Milan earn crucial win at Juventus with controversial penalty

Inter Milan a crucial 1-0 win at Juventus on Sunday, dragging Simone Inzaghi's side back into the Serie A title race. Juve wasted a host of chances in the opening period, with veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini guilty of missing the most glaring of them, and their profligacy proved costly as Inter earned a penalty in first-half stoppage time following a VAR review. The home side were furious at the awarding of the spot kick, but felt justice was done when Wojciech Szczesny saved Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty, only for the referee to order a retake, which the Turkish midfielder converted to give Inter the lead. The goal did not change the balance of play, however, as Paulo Dybala and Dusan Vlahovic both went close to an equaliser in the second half, before Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic tipped Denis Zakaria's brilliant strike onto the post. It remained one-way traffic until the final whistle, but Juve, who had 23 shots at goal to Inter's five, could not make the pressure pay, as the visitors held on to seal all three points.

Juve's first league defeat since November leaves them on 59 points in fourth in the standings, four points behind Inter in third, with the champions now three behind leaders AC Milan. "Now we can say that Juventus are cut off from the Scudetto race," Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told DAZN. "We must try to score as many points as possible to keep fourth place. "This year we had a bad start but since many players have grown up, we have become an important team that still needs to improve. "After tonight's game Inter are the favourites for the Scudetto." Juventus's run of 16 league matches unbeaten prior to Sunday's Derby d'Italia had seen them claw themselves back into the top-four battle and also