Inter Milan 1-2 Juventus: 3 Reasons Why the Bianconeri were victorious in the Derby D'Italia

Juventus smashed Inter Milan's perfect start to the season in a defining 2-1 win at the San Siro to go top of the Serie A table as we go into the international break. The Bianconeri were dominant for most of the game and made the most of their periods on top to clinch all three points form Inter's backyard.

The game began at a hundred miles an hour with Juventus doing most of the early attacking. They were leading within four minutes from a lovely strike by Paolo Dybala and seemed like they would build on that lead.

Despite continuing to be a threat to Inter's goal, it would be the Nerazzurri who would strike next after Matthijs De Ligt handled the ball in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Lautaro Martinez made no mistake with the penalty to put the home side level despite barely having any attacking impetus in the game.

The second half saw both sides play more conservatively, but all Juventus needed was a single clear-cut chance falling to Gonzalo Higuain and the Argentine forward made Inter pay. Although it is too early to say, that strike has given Inter a reminder of the task ahead of them if they're to challenge for the title.

---

#3 Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo celebrated his goal, not realising it had been ruled out for offside

The Portuguese forward hasn't been fluent for Juventus so far this season, but he's the man for big games and he certainly shone against Inter. Involved in almost every attack that Juventus threw forward, Ronaldo was able to threaten Inter's goal on a number of occasions.

He would hit the crossbar form a venomous shot, and have the goal in the back of the net and celebrate only for the goal to be ruled out by a marginal offside call on Paolo Dybala in the build-up.

Nonetheless, the former Real Madrid occupied spaces that attracted the attention of at least two defenders and did well, linking play with his team-mates in the little time he was allowed on the ball. Others may have scored the goals on the day, but he was at the heart of the attack.

#2 Frustrating Inter attack

Vecino had a couple of chances but he couldn't make the most of them

Juventus started the game brightly, but when Inter did break with the ball, they looked dangerous on the counter, led by Lautaro Martinez. Some lousy decision making led to the Nerazzurri failing to make the best of these chances. Martinez and Lukaku had eyes only for each other on a couple of occasions when Sensi was available in acres of space on the left.

When Stefano Sensi left the pitch owing to an injury, leaving a struggling Inter to cope without him, all looked bleak for the home team. It wasn't the case though as the full-backs provided some great service into the forwards but Lukaku's woeful play with his back to goal meant that Inter's build-up was interrupted plenty of times.

Even Matias Vecino who replaced Sensi got into some threatening positions but failed to finish off his chances. When Conte looks back at this game, he will see a poor performance but the chances were there for Inter to get a result from the game, if only they had taken them.

#1 Sarri ringing in the changes

Sarri's changes to the starting XI as well as substitutions during the game bore fruit

Recent weeks have seen Maurizio Sarri gamble with Paulo Dybala in attack and rely on Aaron Ramsey in the role behind the strikers. Going into the game against Inter, he decided to stick with Dybala but replace Ramsey with Bernardeschi. This was despite Gonzalo Higuain and the Welshman showing decent form.

The gamble paid off almost immediately when Dybala scored early on, and Juventus looked imperious in attack for most of the first half. In the second half, when Juventus' attack began to wane, Sarri was quick to act, introducing Higuain in place of Bernardeschi that saw Dybala drop to a deeper role.

That change also would end well for Sarri as Higuain got on the end of a pass from Bentancur, made some space for himself and found the back fo the net.

Sarri has faced some criticism in the past for making predictable substitutions and failing to affect a game form the bench. Against Inter, though, he made all the right moves to enable his side to clinch all three points.