In a game of inevitable high drama, bad temper and controversial refereeing, reigning Italian champions Juventus yesterday beat their closest league rivals Inter Milan 1-0 to take perhaps the biggest step of all down the road to winning their 25th Italian title.
With just three games to play, Juventus now lead Inter by four points and look champions in all but mathematical certainty.
If Juventus ran out winners yesterday, they must thank three people - their brilliant striker Alessandro Del Piero, scorer of the match winner; their goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi who pulled of two stunning last-minute saves; and referee Piero Ceccarini, a man whose debatable decisions at the Stadio Delle Alpi yesterday are likely to prompt a flood of recrimination.
Del Piero's match-winning gem had come after only 21 minutes. Profiting from the fact that his robust marker, the Nigerian Taribo West, had temporarily abandoned him to move forward in an ill-advised search for attacking glory, Del Piero latched on to a defensive clearance just inside the Inter half, to run at the impoverished Inter defence.
Sweeper Salvatore Fresi was left to pick up the pieces and it seemed that he had just about stopped the Juventus striker on the by-line, when Del Piero recovered his balance to score a clever goal from a seemingly impossible angle.
Even before that goal, Juventus had lived up to their reputation as the more impressive collective, taking the game to Inter without fear or complexity. After Del Piero's goal, the Juventus first-half dominance became palpable.
The high drama came around the 70th minute. Inter had come out for the second half, fighting hard and looking a little resigned to defeat. Intense Inter pressure first created a good chance for Chilean substitute striker Ivan Zamorano, which was well saved by Peruzzi, then came a penalty-area scramble when Inter's Brazilian, Ronaldo, was clearly seen to be brought down by Mark Iuliano.
To the dismay of outraged Inter players, the referee waved play on only to see Del Piero pulled down by West in the Inter penalty area seconds later. This time, the referee awarded the penalty and at that point, Inter tempers short-circuited with coach Gigi Simoni eventually being sent off because of his vociferous protests.
The drama became even more intense when Inter goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca saved Del Piero's penalty. From then to the finish, it was wild and sometimes bad-tempered stuff as Inter threw everyone forward in a desperate bid for a late equaliser. For all their efforts, however, Inter only twice came close with injury-time efforts from Ronaldo and Zamorano, both brilliantly saved by Peruzzi.
By that stage, too, Inter were down to 10 men following the sending-off in the 79th minute of Brazilian substitute midfielder Ze Elias. In the day that was in it, it had to be an Inter player whom referee Ceccarini sent off.
Speaking after the game, disappointed Inter coach Gigi Simoni commented: "I was certain that it was a penalty when Ronaldo was brought down and I hope for the ref's sake that I was wrong. Apart from that, though, Juventus were not much better than us, they had only one real chance and that was Del Piero's goal."
Juventus: Peruzzi, Torricelli, Iuliano, Montero, Pessotto; Di Livio, Deschamps, Zidane, Davids; Del Piero, Inzaghi. Subs: Birindelli for Montero (58 mins); Conte for Inzaghi (62 mins); Pecchia for Davids (84 mins).
Inter-Milan: Pagliuca, Fresi, West, Colonnese, Zanetti; Moriero, Cauet, Simeone, Winter; Djorkaeff, Ronaldo,. Subs: Zamorano for Moriero (56 mins); Ze Elias for Winter (66 mins).
Referee: P Ceccarini.
