Inter overcome Juve in extra time to claim sixth Supercoppa title

Rome, Jan 13 (IANS) Alexis Sanchez became the hero for Inter Milan, as his last-gasp winner in the extra time helped the Nerazzurri come from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 and claim their sixth Supercoppa title in history.

The Supercoppa is a traditional clash between the previous season’s Serie A and Coppa Italia champions. Juve are the winner of the last edition, while Inter’s last victory in this competition came in 2010.

With Matthijs de Ligt and Juan Cuadrado being suspended, Juve also had to play without an injured Federico Chiesa, and Mattia Perin got the nod to stand between the sticks as Wojciech Szczesny failed to get a green pass, while Inter was at relatively full strength.

Inter had a more aggressive start but it was the Bianconeri that broke the deadlock in the 25th minute when Alvaro Morata floated a cross from the byline and Weston McKennie steered his header into the net undisturbed.

The defending champion of Serie A got back on level terms 10 minutes later, as Lautaro Martinez turned up to convert the penalty after De Sciglio kicked down Edin Dzeko in the box.

The game was dragged into extra time after the two sides played out a goalless second half despite some genuine chances.

In the extra time, Sanchez’s header following Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner went wide while Paulo Dybala blasted it over, reports Xinhua.

As the game seemed to be heading to a penalty shoot-out, Sanchez showed up to hog the limelight in the dying seconds, as Alex Sandro’s poor clearance went up into the air, which was tapped by Matteo Darmian for the Chilean to tap in before Daniele Rugani.

“They didn’t make it particularly difficult for us. I’ve seen the stats and I think we deserved the win, but we were up against a top side,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.

“I’ve got a good record against Juve in the Supercoppa and we’ve now won our first trophy of the season in front of our fans so I’m thrilled. We have to keep it up. We wanted this trophy because Inter hadn’t won it since 2010 and that’s too long,” he added.

–IANS

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