MILAN: Kenan Yildiz fired Juventus back from two goals down to draw 4-4 in an incredible clash at Inter Milan on Sunday, which allowed Napoli to extend their Serie A lead to four points.

With Juventus trailing 4-2, Turkey starlet Yildiz came off the bench with around half an hour left at a packed and pulsating San Siro and brought third-placed Juve back from the dead with two superb finishes in the final 20 minutes.

The 19-year-old stunned the more than 70,000 home fans who were convinced that they were watching their team make a Scudetto statement when Denzel Dumfries rolled home what looked like Inter’s decisive fourth goal in the 53rd minute.

“Today I was really happy to score my first goal and second goal, also against a big team like Inter. I hope to continue like this,” Yildiz told DAZN, adding that he has faith in Juve’s title chances. “We hope always, but the season is still long, we want to give our best and I hope at the end that it’s going to be good.”

Manager Thiago Motta, however, acknowledged that Juve are not in the title race just yet and emphasised the importance of maintaining focus on their growth.

“Not at this moment. We delivered a solid performance against one of the favourites for the Scudetto, alongside Napoli, who have maintained the core of their squad from a year and a half ago,” Motta told DAZN.

“Right now, they’re ahead and capable of competing until the end for the title. While today was a good performance, we need to keep our feet on the ground. We’ll continue on our path, sticking to our ideas and our growth process. We’ll see what were capable of when the time comes. I’m being honest; I speak as things are.”

The high-intensity match marked the first time in Serie A history that five goals were scored in the first half between Inter and Juve, who remain unbeaten in the league this season.

Inter are second in the standings with 18 points, four points behind Napoli. Juve are third with 17 points.

“There is bitterness but as a coach I must analyse and talk to them tomorrow, as the players looked sad in the dressing room,” Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sports Italy.

“It’s frustrating, as we were facing a Juventus side whose greatest strength is defence and we created so many scoring opportunities without winning.”

Inter’s defensive issues have become a persistent concern for Inzaghi, who acknowledged that their recent performances bear little resemblance to last season’s formidable backline that helped them to win the title.

“We have been conceding goals that are frankly unacceptable. We probably would’ve won this by quite a bit last season,” Inzaghi said. “It’s a draw, not a defeat, but admittedly it feels a bit like that. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been part of a game like that. There seemed to be no warning of a Juve comeback, maybe I could’ve done more.”

The five-goal opening half began when Marcus Thuram got to the ball ahead of Danilo, who inadvertently kicked him on the ankle instead of clearing it which prompted the referee to point to the penalty spot. Piotr Zielinski converted after 15 minutes to give Inter the lead.

Juve equalised five minutes later when Weston McKennie provided a pass for Dusan Vlahovic, who side-footed it in on the bounce from a short distance.

After 26 minutes, Juve took the lead when Francisco Conceicao worked his way into the box, creating space before rolling a pass across to an unmarked Timothy Weah, who had little trouble turning the match around for the visitors.

Inter’s Henrik Mkhitaryan made it 2-2 10 minutes before halftime with a left-footed strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

The goal fest continued when Zielinski again put Inter ahead from the penalty spot after Pierre Kalulu tripped Dumfries, handing the champions a 3-2 lead going into the break.

The second half began intensely as Dumfries found the net from a corner, sending the ball through the crowded Juve defence to extend Inter’s lead to two goals.

Turkish striker Yildiz, 19, fired a low shot from a tight angle after making a run into the box during a counter-attack, reducing Juve’s deficit in the 71st minute.

Eight minutes before full-time he controlled a cross inside the box to unleash a shot that went into the net to secure the spectacular draw.

“We could have done more to avoid Juventus goals, it was too easy for them, Zielinski told reporters. “We could have all done something more, especially on the third goal. We should have recovered the ball more quickly. We left too much space for them.”

ROMA CRUMBLE

Crisis club AS Roma slumped to a humiliating 5-1 defeat at Fiorentina which left Ivan Juric at risk of the sack barely a month after he replaced Daniele De Rossi in the capital club’s dugout.

Roma are 11th on just 10 points after a horrendous night in Florence in which nothing went right, going two down to strikes from Moise Kean and Lucas Beltran within 17 minutes and never recovering from that early blow.

The away side were briefly in the game when Manu Kone netted in the 39th minute, but Kean bagged his second of the night moments later.

A miserable evening was completed by Roma youth product Edoardo Bove adding the fourth and Mats Hummels nodding into his own net just four minutes after making his debut for the club from the bench following Mario Hermoso’s sending off.

Roma’s dismal season has only been made worse by local rivals Lazio’s great form, their latest win a 3-0 thumping of injury-ravaged Genoa.

Lazio are level on 16 points with fourth-placed Fiorentina, Atalanta and Udinese, who are all one behind Juve, after Tijjani Noslin’s jinking run and low finish in the 21st minute was followed up by late strikes from Pedro and Matias Vecino.

Genoa meanwhile are third from bottom after a seven-match winless run in which they have lost five times.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2024