Juventus e Inter Milan drew 1-1 this Tuesday, in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals, at the Juventus Stadium, in a duel that ended with scenes of confusion after the visitors left everything equal with a penalty and Romelu Lukaku was expelled for provocation when celebrating the goal.
In Turin, the home side thought they would win after Colombia’s Juan Cuadrado, following Adrien Rabiot’s cross seven minutes from time, scored with a low cross.
UNITED, Until the End 🤍🖤 pic.twitter.com/5IiLeVjhwI
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) April 4, 2023
Inter, however, managed to equalize thanks to a handball from Brazilian defender Bremer. In injury time, Lukaku scored and then received a second yellow card because the referee considered that he had provoked the fans by celebrating his goal.
The Belgian striker had received his first card for committing a hard foul in the 35th minute of the second half.
“Lukaku always celebrates goals like that, then unfortunately there was a fight, that will deprive us of two key players in the first leg. We dominated without being able to score, but I can’t blame my players for anything, it was a good game in a difficult moment for us,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
Until the most hectic final stretch, with goals and controversy, the game had been vibrant, with opportunities for both teams in a repeat of the 2022 final that Inter won (4-2 after extra time).
The best chances for the local team were Argentina’s Ángel Di María and Serbian Dusan Vlahovic, with two headers. For Inter, the Croatian Marcelo Brozovic and the Armenian Henrikh Mkitaryan also rounded the goal.
“The result seems fair to me, they had chances and so did we. It’s a shame because 20 seconds from the end it was an avoidable situation”, said the coach of the ‘bianconero’ team, Massimiliano Allegri, referring to the penalty goal conceded by his team.
The place in the final will be disputed in the return game, on April 26, at the San Siro stadium, between the two favorites for the title. In the other semifinal, Cremonese, bottom of Serie A, and Fiorentina face each other this Wednesday.
Who cheered as Bare? 🔊#ForzaInter #JuventusInter #CoppaItalia in Frecciaro pic.twitter.com/HkvjvHmeP2
— Inter (@Inter) April 4, 2023
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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