Inter Wins Lively Perth Derby d’Italia Against Juventus
Inter 2–1 Juventus
Dimarco 20, Diouf 63 (I); Conceição 85 (J)
The badge said “friendly.” The tempo said anything but.
Under the Perth floodlights, Inter and Juventus dragged a slice of the Derby d’Italia halfway around the world and served up a sharp, occasionally chaotic 2-1 win for the Nerazzurri, with Federico Dimarco and Andy Diouf on target before Francisco Conceição’s late reply.
Juventus used the night to open the door to the future. Kerim Alajbegovic and Randal Kolo Muani were handed debuts, Kenan Yildiz earned his first start of the summer, and there was the usual churn of pre-season changes. Inter, fresh from a 1-1 draw with Milan in an Australian Derby della Madonnina, arrived with their own experiments but kept a harder edge when it mattered.
Dimarco strikes, Inter seize control
The first real incision came down Juventus’ right. Ange-Yoan Bonny simply powered away from Weston McKennie on the left flank, hit the byline and slid a low ball into the box. Dimarco arrived, side-footed, and didn’t catch it cleanly, but he didn’t need to. From 12 yards his scuffed first-time finish dribbled perfectly into the far bottom corner, out of Michele Di Gregorio’s reach.
Inter smelled space. Hakan Calhanoglu stepped up over a free-kick and whipped in one of those vicious, dipping efforts that make goalkeepers twitch early; Di Gregorio had to readjust and claw it away. Henrikh Mkhitaryan followed with a set-piece of his own, forcing more work from the Juventus keeper.
Then the game flipped for a spell.
Douglas Luiz began to find pockets and angles, and with one sharp, vertical pass he released Andrea Cambiaso clean through. Cambiaso chose the cut-back instead of taking on the shot, the move fizzled, and Inter survived. Yildiz soon took matters into his own hands, driving forward and drilling just wide, a reminder that Juventus still carried bite.
At the break, the scoreboard still read Dimarco 1, Juventus 0.
Spalletti rings the changes, Diouf punishes Juve
Luciano Spalletti tore into his bench at half-time, rolling out a string of substitutions that included those long-awaited Juventus debuts for Kolo Muani and Alajbegovic. Fresh legs, fresh ideas, same problem: Inter’s structure held.
Then came the moment Juventus will want to forget.
Andy Diouf picked up the ball and surged into a gaping lane between Juan Cabal and Teun Koopmeiners, the kind of chasm no defence wants to see on replay. His angled drive from the left should have been routine for Di Gregorio at the near post. Instead, the ball squirmed under his body and over the line, a soft concession that doubled Inter’s lead and underlined their superiority in both boxes.
Inter could have buried it completely. Jamal Iddrissou rolled an inviting ball across the face of goal, the Juventus defence again scattered. Matteo Lavelli, unmarked, leaned back and ballooned his finish over an open net. Before that, an Alajbegovic cross had just grazed the head of Kolo Muani, inches from the kind of debut goal that rewrites a narrative.
Conceição ignites a late push
Juventus refused to drift quietly to full time. Alajbegovic, growing bolder, burst into the box and tried to square instead of shooting, another chance passed up. The warning was there, though: the Bianconeri were suddenly playing on the front foot.
The breakthrough came on the left. Conceição combined neatly with Fabio Miretti, burst into space and drove at goal. This time there was no hesitation, no extra touch. He hammered his finish low and straight through Josep Martinez’s legs, a powerful strike that turned consolation into genuine hope with five minutes left.
Perth crackled. Inter, cruising at 2-0, were now clinging.
Almost immediately, Juventus were back in again. Kolo Muani dropped off the front line, slipped a pass into Alajbegovic, and the debutant forced Martinez into a save. Moments later, Kolo Muani spun in the box under close attention from Leonardo Bovio. He went down, arms raised, appealing for a penalty that never came. The tussle was waved away, Inter breathed again.
The final whistle arrived with Inter still a step ahead, Juventus still asking questions.
For Spalletti, the scoreline brings a useful win and another confidence marker on a long summer tour. For Juventus, the defeat comes laced with intrigue: Conceição sharp, Yildiz dangerous, Alajbegovic and Kolo Muani already involved in the key moments.
If this is how a “friendly” Derby d’Italia feels in August in Australia, what happens when these two meet with points and trophies on the line back in Italy?
