Turkish teenage sensation Kenan Yıldız came off the bench to spark Juventus’s comeback in a thrilling 4-4 Derby d’Italia against Inter Milan on Sunday.
Yıldız entered in the 61st minute with Juventus trailing 4-2, and the 19-year-old delivered a late brace to secure the dramatic draw, halting what looked like an inevitable Inter victory.
"I want to thank my team, the coach and my family; it wasn’t easy, but I’m incredibly happy," Yıldız said. "In football, anything can change in an instant – you just have to stay united and play as a team."
Inter remains in second place, four points behind Serie A leader Napoli and one point above Juventus.
"We need to show greater determination, but as the coach, I have to say that we deserved to score seven or eight goals against a team that had only conceded one up until now," Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. "There are heads hanging low, and I’m the first to feel that way, but we played well despite the disappointment of not getting that fifth goal to seal the match.”
Nicknamed “Italy’s derby,” matches between Inter and Juventus are always significant fixtures in the Serie A calendar, and the two teams are considered the main title contenders, along with Napoli, this season.
Inter took the lead in the 15th minute when Piotr Zieliński struck a penalty straight down the middle after Marcus Thuram was fouled by Danilo.
The Nerazzurri had conceded just two goals in its past four matches, but they let in as many in six minutes as their defense was caught napping.
First, Juan Cabal floated a ball over the top for Weston McKennie to cushion across to Dušan Vlahović, who tapped it in from point-blank range.
Shortly afterward, Francisco Conceicao dribbled down the right and got past Henrikh Mkhitaryan all too easily before rolling across for Tim Weah to slot home from in front of goal as Juventus took a 2-1 lead.
Mkhitaryan atoned for his error with a brilliant equalizer in the 35th minute, playing a one-two with Thuram and feinting past a Juventus defender before firing into the bottom left corner.
Inter turned the match around completely two minutes later with another penalty after Pierre Kalulu clattered into the back of Denzel Dumfries. Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio got a hand to Zielinski’s kick but couldn’t prevent it from going into the bottom left corner.
Inter extended its lead eight minutes into the second half. Danilo tried to head a corner clear, but it came to Dumfries, who drilled it into the far bottom corner.
The home side came close several times to extending its advantage before Juventus got back into the match in the 71st. McKennie picked out Yıldız, who was unmarked on the left, and he surged downfield before firing across into the bottom right corner.
The Nerazzurri regretted their missed chances as Yıldız doubled his tally eight minutes from time, powerfully firing home Conceição’s cross.
Roma was thrashed 5-1 by a high-scoring Fiorentina team, which took its tally to 11 goals in its last two Serie A matches.
Germany World Cup winner Mats Hummels netted an own goal on his Roma debut, and defender Mario Hermoso was sent off for a second yellow card in a nightmare evening for the capital team.
Fiorentina was already up 4-1 by that point. Moise Kean scored twice, Lucas Beltrán added a penalty and Edoardo Bove also netted against Roma – the club he always supported as well as progressed through its ranks.
Fiorentina won 6-0 at Lecce last weekend.
Genoa director Marco Ottolini said Mario Balotelli will sign on Monday “barring surprises,” and the team desperately needs the former Inter and Manchester City forward.
Genoa had just two shots on target in a 3-0 loss at Lazio as it fell to its fifth defeat in six matches.
Parma came back to draw 1-1 against Empoli and could have won late, but Ange-Yoan Bonny sent a penalty off the crossbar two minutes after Gabriel Charpentier had leveled.
Monza twice fought back to salvage a 2-2 draw with Venezia.
