Mario Mandzukic and Joao Cancelo made the difference as Juventus beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the latest edition of the Derby D’Italia.

 

Juventus Player Ratings

Woj Szczesny: Only had one real save to make but it’s a real testament to him that he transmits confidence and calm in his box – The defenders pick up on that and it helps in the big games. Alert to every threat, he’s been quietly assured all season long. 7.0/10

Giorgio Chiellini: Six clearances, three interceptions, one shot on target……and all those stats don’t come close to relating how dominant the captain was. His movement off the ball, his awareness and most importantly, his positioning was utterly superb. He knew that he may not have the beating of Icardi in a foot race, so he made sure he was in the right place at the right time to steal a yard. He was dominant in the air, in control all game long and had Icardi firmly in his back pocket to the extent that the Inter striker was barely visable. Imperious. 9.0/10

Leonardo Bonucci: Some more shaky moments at the start with a wayward pass or two, but his distribution was excellent from the back. Made a vital block on a Politano effort and improved as the game developed. 7.0/10

Mattia De Sciglio: Swapped flanks early on as Perisic looked to be a threat – After Mattia moved to the right, the threat was removed. Such is the confidence and consistency he now has in his defensive duties. Four clearances, three out of four tackles but this doesn’t really illustrate how well he played or how in control he looks at the back. 7.5/10

Joao Cancelo: Exceptional – Switched from right to left flank and played a superb game, pushing high up and pressing Vrsaljko back into his box. Two vital clearances and interceptions and the cherry on the cake: A pinpoint cross for Mandzukic to head home. A near-perfect night from the full-back who is rightly getting plenty of praise for his performances. 8.0/10

 

Midfield

Rodrigo Bentancur: Not a great performance but he was solid enough without offering too much in the attacking third of the pitch. Didn’t look to be 100% and it seemed the back injury he picked up was still troubling him at stages. That said, his passing was sound and he did enough to help get us over the line. 6.5/10

Miralem Pjanic: A really average night by his usually high standards. The passing was all too predictable and the overhead balls to Ronaldo were repetitive and unsuccessful. He was needlessly booked early on and that obviously had an impact as he wasn’t as forceful in the tackle and had to be cautious. 6.0/10

Blaise Matuidi: The best midfielder on the night has he harried and fought throughout the game, winning the most tackles for a Juventus player. His forward runs helped relieve the pressure and while he made a few mistakes at the back, his overall play was sound. 7.0/10

 

Attack

Mario Mandzukic: Another big game, another big performance from the tall-man. If Chiellini displayed the grinta and hard-work at the back, Mario was his counterpart in the attack. A constant threat in the box, he bullied the Inter defenders over and over and eventually gave Juve the lead through a fine headed goal. Played on the left as the game closed out and he even got back to do the defensive work. 8.0/10

Cristiano Ronaldo: A really quiet night for the Portuguese – Struggled to make anything work but he wasn’t aided by those overhead balls from Bonucci and Pjanic that looked all too predictable. Had some nice footwork on occasions but he was limited in efforts on goal. 6.0/10

Paulo Dybala: It’s hard not to feel for him when he’s been given a ‘free’ role and is almost playing as a box to box midfielder when in reality, his best position is as a forward. He did the best he could and played some key passes and linked up play well with the midfield, but he really should be playing in attack where he flourishes. 6.5/10

 

 

Substitutes

Douglas Costa: Another cameo showing but he had a great run late on where he took on the entire Inter midfield and had the beating of them all. A shame he didn’t feature more. 6.5/10

Emre Can: A nice run out for the midfielder who was returning from a lengthy injury lay-off. N/A