Another Derby d’Italia ended in utter chaos as Inter came back with a stoppage-time equaliser at Juventus to secure a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final.
Romelu Lukaku slotted home a penalty with the game’s last kick to cancel out Juan Cuadrado’s own late strike, and a flurry of red cards were dished out after the final whistle, starting with Lukaku himself before the game had restarted after his goal. There had been similar scenes in Juventus‘ recent win at Inter in Serie A.
The game had been relatively uneventful – perhaps expectedly given Massimiliano Allegri’s approach with Juventus and the well-documented problems Inter have been suffering from in front of goal of late. When Cuadrado struck in the 83rd minute, then, it looked as though the Bianconeri would take a one-goal lead with them to Milan for the second leg.
Late drama again in the Derby d’Italia
Adrien Rabiot had a cross flicked on and Cuadrado, completely free on Juventus‘ right-hand side with Robin Gosens nowhere to be seen, was able to run on to meet the ball, set himself up, and fire under Samir Handanovic to find the net, despite Alessandro Bastoni’s scrambling attempts to clear.
But that wasn’t where it ended. Ten minutes later and with around 15 seconds to play, Gleison Bremer handled the ball in the area after Denzel Dumfries had knocked it into the box. The penalty was awarded and Romelu Lukaku sent Mattia Perin the wrong way to roll into the net centrally. Lukaku celebrated by saluting and silencing the crowd and was then sent off as chaos broke out for a second yellow card. From that, the Inter forward was sent off and Cuadrado booked. Videos later emerged showing fans in the home end racially abusing Lukaku.
Post-match madness
The final whistle only made things worse. After the game had ended, Cuadrado and Handanovic were seen exchanging words and that soon became heated. Both were shown red cards.
Danilo D’Ambrosio also appeared to be shown a red card as he left the crowd and the pitch, though that appears to have been the red card that Handanovic received.
The second leg is set for April 26 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, where the two sides will meet for the third time in just over a month. The two recent meetings between them have produced fireworks after the final whistle, and then a place in the Coppa Italia final will be on the line.
