TURIN, Italy : Juventus snatched a dramatic 4-3 win at home to Inter Milan on Saturday, with Vasilije Adzic netting a stunning added time winner to send the hosts top of the Serie A standings and condemn the visitors to a second successive defeat.
The home side twice took the lead but Hakan Calhanoglu pulled Inter level on both occasions. The Thuram brothers looked to have decided the game with Marcus putting Inter ahead and Kephren equalising before Adzic struck late for Juventus.
“The victory arrived, I don’t know if you could say it was deserved,” Juventus coach Igor Tudor told DAZN.
“The way I see it, a draw would have been fairer, but that’s football.”
Juventus are on nine points, three ahead of Napoli, Cremonese and AS Roma who all have a game in hand. Napoli are at Fiorentina later on Saturday. Inter remain on three points.
Inter were looking to bounce back from a 2-1 home loss to Udinese last time out but fell behind in the 14th minute.
Manuel Locatelli floated a cross towards the back post where Gleison Bremer volleyed it back across the box and Lloyd Kelly steered his shot into the bottom corner.
Inter equalised on the half-hour mark when Carlos Augusto’s pass found Calhanoglu whose first-time effort sailed past Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio.
Juventus were back in front eight minutes later, Bremer again the provider. Kenan Yildiz gathered the defender’s pass with his back to goal, turned and found space for a powerful shot which keeper Yann Sommer got a hand to but could not keep out.
Inter had Juventus pinned back in their own half for long periods after the break, but the visitors struggled to create any clear-cut chances until Calhanoglu levelled in the 65th minute.
After a game of head tennis between the sides in the Juventus box, Piotr Zielinski nodded back to Calhanoglu who controlled the ball on his chest before letting fly from the edge of the area with a sumptuous strike into the far corner.
Inter continued to press, and 11 minutes later, Marcus Thuram rose unchallenged to power a header from a corner beyond the keeper to put the visitors ahead for the first time, but with their father, ex-Juventus player Lilian Thuram, watching on, Kephren responded.
“After the goal, Marcus said ‘well done’ with the eyes of a brother, but he wasn’t laughing,” Kephren told DAZN.
“He teases me about headers, and so does Dad, so today I’m happy.”
Yildiz sent a free kick into the box, and Thuram powered a header past Sommer with eight minutes remaining, but the Derby d’Italia was not done yet.
Substitute Adzic gathered a pass from Jonathan David and took one touch before unleashing an unstoppable screamer from distance to maintain Juve’s perfect start to the season.
“For me, it’s a dream, I stepped into such a passionate match, and I’ve been waiting forever for a moment like this,” Adzic said. “We’ll fight for the title.”
