Juventus 0 - 0 Inter Milan: Inter Milan stay top of Serie A after frustrating Juventus in goalless draw

Posted Sunday, December 10, 2017 by PA

Inter Milan remain in top spot in Serie A after holding Juventus to a goalless draw in Turin.

Victory for Juve would have seen the defending champions usurp their Derby d'Italia rivals but they could not find a breakthrough despite dominating the chances.

At times it seemed like a contest between Mario Mandzukic and Inter keeper Samir Handanovic, with Juve having 19 shots to just six from the visitors, only one of which was on target.

But the statistic that really counted left the teams level and preserved Inter's two-point advantage and their unbeaten record.

Inter began well and dominated possession in the early stages, although they were very nearly behind in the ninth minute.

A Juan Cuadrado cross from the right somehow made its way through a number of Inter defenders in the middle of the box and found Mandzukic in space.

The Croatian probably should have scored but Handanovic produced an excellent save and then, when the ball came back to Mandzukic, his follow-up header was cleared from just in front of the line by Miranda.

Handanovic was in for a busy evening while his opposite number Wojciech Szczesny, a stand-in for the injured Gianluigi Buffon, was largely a spectator.

The next test for Handanovic arrived in the 36th minute, when he got down sharply to keep out Sami Khedira's volley.

The Slovenian was beaten just before half-time when Mandzukic showed tremendous determination to meet Cuadrado's cross with a powerful header only for the ball to come back off the bar.

Juve's dominance intensified after the break.

A sublime turn from Gonazlo Higuain set up another shooting opportunity for Mandzukic but his effort was too close to Handanovic.

The keeper was called on to keep out his own man in the 60th minute when a lovely one-two between Cuadrado and Higuain saw the Argentinian send in an inviting ball that Ivan Perisic got a head to.

He could only direct it towards his own goal but Handanovic stuck out a hand to push the ball over the bar.

Inter were struggling to cope with Juve's attacking threat and Khedira was the next to go close, shooting wide after Handanovic had come out of his goal to meet a cross.

The Inter keeper was then in action again, this time getting down well to keep out Kwadwo Asamoah's fierce effort.

Juventus sent on top scorer Paulo Dybala for Khedira for the final stages but had to settle for a frustrating point.