Dimarco and Diouf Lead Inter to Victory in Perth Derby d’Italia
On the other side of the world, in the sharp winter air of Perth, Inter and Juventus served up a Derby d’Italia that looked nothing like a gentle pre-season jog. It finished 2-1 to the Nerazzurri, Federico Dimarco and Andy Diouf on the scoresheet, but this was a night that also introduced a new Juventus pairing to the stage: Kerim Alajbegovic and Randal Kolo Muani.
Both debuted. Both showed why there is noise around them. Neither could stop Inter walking away with the win.
Dimarco strikes, Inter settle first
Juventus arrived off a 1-0 win over Chelsea, Kenan Yildiz handed his first start of the summer. Inter came in from a 1-1 draw with Milan in an Australian Derby della Madonnina, still tuning their rhythm, and without Petar Sucic, who had flown back to Europe for the birth of his child.
Inter found their stride first.
Ange-Yoan Bonny burned away from Weston McKennie down the left, hit the byline and picked his moment. His low ball across the box wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be. Dimarco met it with a scuffed first-time finish from 12 yards, the contact imperfect, the result ruthless, the ball skidding into the far bottom corner.
From there, the Nerazzurri tightened the grip. Hakan Calhanoglu forced Michele Di Gregorio into action with a viciously dipping free-kick, the kind that makes a goalkeeper’s hands sting. Henrikh Mkhitaryan followed with his own set-piece effort, Di Gregorio again equal to it.
Juventus, though, refused to sit in the role of sparring partner. Douglas Luiz split the lines with a smart pass to send Andrea Cambiaso clear, only for the wing-back to check back and look for support instead of taking on the shot. Yildiz then drilled just wide, a reminder that Juve’s youngsters are not on this tour simply to make up the numbers.
Inter reached the break in front, Dimarco’s goal the difference, but the contest felt anything but settled.
Spalletti rings the changes, Diouf punishes Juve
Half-time brought the usual pre-season carousel. Luciano Spalletti shuffled his pack, and in came the new faces Juventus fans had been waiting to see: Kolo Muani and Alajbegovic both introduced as Thiago Motta looked for a different attacking spark.
The response came from the other bench.
Inter doubled their lead with a move that will irritate Juventus for days. Diouf drove into the yawning gap between Juan Cabal and Teun Koopmeiners, the Bianconeri back line parting far too easily. His angled drive at the near post should have been routine for Di Gregorio, but the goalkeeper misjudged it horribly, fumbling and allowing the ball to squirm under his body.
A sharp Inter move, a powerful run, and a goal that owed as much to Juve’s defensive disarray as Diouf’s conviction.
Juventus wobbled. Inter could have buried them.
Alajbegovic’s cross from the right only skimmed the head of Kolo Muani, who had found space but not quite the contact. Then came a glaring miss at the other end of the pitch: Jamal Iddrissou rolled the ball across the box, Matteo Lavelli unmarked in front of an open goal, only to balloon his finish high and waste the chance to make it three.
Alajbegovic and Kolo Muani ignite, Conceição hits back
The game opened up. Alajbegovic began to grow into it, bursting into the penalty area and choosing to square instead of shooting, a decision that summed up a Juventus attack still searching for instinctive ruthlessness.
The breakthrough finally arrived.
Francisco Conceição combined sharply with Fabio Miretti on the left, darted into space and went for power rather than subtlety. His shot ripped through Josep Martinez’s legs, a fierce finish that gave Juventus a lifeline and shifted the tone of the closing minutes.
Suddenly, Inter were hanging on.
Almost straight from the restart, Alajbegovic forced Martinez into a save after neat link-up play with Kolo Muani. The French forward then found himself at the centre of penalty appeals, going down under a tussle with Leonardo Bovio as he tried to spin from around 10 yards out. The referee waved play on. No spot-kick, no late equaliser.
The final whistle came with Juventus pushing and Inter surviving, the 2-1 scoreline reflecting both the Nerazzurri’s sharper edge in key moments and Juve’s late surge once their new faces settled.
It ends as a friendly on paper, but the night in Perth offered more than fitness data and rotation minutes. Inter walk away with the win, Dimarco and Diouf with the headlines, and Juventus with a clear question: how quickly can this new-look attack turn promise into something more ruthless when the real season starts?
