Teenager Kenan Yıldız came off the bench to help Juventus earn a 4-4 draw at Inter Milan in a thrilling Derby d’Italia on Sunday.
Yıldız was substituted in during the 61st minute when the score was 4-2, with Inter looking set for an important win before the 19-year-old scored two late goals.
“I want to thank the team, the coach, and my family: it was not easy, but I am very happy,” Yıldız said. “You always have to stay together and play as a team; in soccer everything can change quickly.”
Inter remained in second place, four points behind Serie A leader Napoli and one point ahead of Juventus.
“We need to show greater determination, but as the coach I have to say that we deserved to score seven or eight goals against a team that had only conceded one until now,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
“There are heads hanging low, and I’m the first to feel that way, but we played well despite the disappointment of not getting that fifth goal to seal the match.”
Known as “Italy’s derby,” matches between Inter and Juventus are always significant events in the Serie A schedule, and both teams are seen as key title contenders along with Napoli this season.
Inter took the lead in the 15th minute when Piotr Zieliński scored a penalty straight down the middle after Marcus Thuram was fouled by Danilo.
The Nerazzurri had only allowed two goals in their previous four matches, but they conceded as many in six minutes as their defense fell asleep.
First, Juan Cabal sent a lovely ball over the top for Weston McKennie, who passed it to Dusan Vlahovic, allowing him to tap it in from close range.
Soon after, Francisco Conceição dribbled down the right side, easily getting past Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and rolled the ball across for Tim Weah to score right in front of the goal, giving Juventus a 2-1 lead.
Mkhitaryan made up for his earlier mistake with a fantastic equalizer in the 35th minute. He played a one-two with Thuram, faked out a Juventus defender, and shot into the bottom left corner.
Inter completely turned the game around two minutes later with another penalty after Pierre Kalulu collided with Denzel Dumfries. Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio got a hand on Zieliński’s shot but couldn’t stop it from going into the bottom left corner.
Inter extended its lead eight minutes into the second half. Danilo tried to head away a corner, but it fell to Dumfries, who shot it into the far bottom corner.
The home team came close to increasing their lead several times before Juventus got back into the match in the 71st minute. McKennie found Yıldız, who was open and had plenty of space on the left. He charged downfield and shot into the bottom right corner.
Yıldız made Inter regret their missed chances by scoring again eight minutes before the end when he powerfully shot home Conceição’s cross.
