Saturday\u2019s Derby d\u2019Italia was marred by a horrific outing by referee Federico La Penna, who changed the game when he showed Pierre Kalulu a pair of entirely incorrect yellow cards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s a shame, because the official marred what was looking like another excellent chapter in the rivalry between Juventus and Inter that\u2019s turned out some bangers in recent years. The game turned in entertainment value even with the awful arbitration, but it could\u2019ve been so much better, and from the Juventus perspective, you can\u2019t help but think that if the game had remained 11 vs. 11 that the Bianconeri would\u2019ve won the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As it was, Juventus displayed impressive resolve, holding out for nearly half an hour down a man and then equalizing out of nowhere just a few minutes after falling behind, only to fall to a well-placed Piotr Zielinski strike with seconds left in normal time for the final 3-2 score.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
La Penna\u2019s disastrous outing will blot out a lot of what the players did on the pitch, and there were several Juve players deserving of praise for the way they acquitted themselves in a difficult situation. Let\u2019s take a closer look at who.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 6.<\/strong> This is going to cause controversy given the ribbing he\u2019s been given for Andrea Cambiaso\u2019s own goal, but he was already moving in the other direction to cover Lu\u00eds Henrique\u2019s cross and had to try to readjust to Cambiaso\u2019s deflection. Apart from that moment, he made a couple of terrific saves in the second half that would\u2019ve otherwise seen the game get out of hand. The own goal moment was still awkward, which is why he gets the minimum pass, but without his performance after that Juve wouldn\u2019t have had a chance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n PIERRE KALULU – 6.<\/strong> Laid a ball on a plate for Weston McKennie, who couldn\u2019t finish, and defended well on his side before he was shafted by La Penna. I can\u2019t fault him for the official\u2019s incompetence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n BREMER – 7.<\/strong> Blocked a shot and had five clearances to go along with three interceptions and a big clearance off the line in the first half when the game was tied.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n LLOYD KELLY – 6.<\/strong> Co-led the team in clearances with Bremer and had a pair of blocks, but deserves at least secondary responsibility for Francesco Pio Esposito\u2019s goal with some lackluster marking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n ANDREA CAMBIASO – 5.5.<\/strong> His own goal wasn\u2019t the kind of howler that his last one was, but it wasn\u2019t such a great look either. That said, he did make a great move to jump Henrique and equalize, and he came close to a shorthanded goal early in the second.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n WESTON McKENNIE – 7.<\/strong> Two assists for the American, who is still mysteriously without a contract extension at post time. This would be even higher if he\u2019d just taken the shot on Cambiaso\u2019s rebound instead of what turned out to be a poor attempt at squaring to Jonathan David\u2014who admittedly was wide open. After the red he played pretty much everywhere along the formation to patch the holes left by any attack, and tried to make up for the lost man.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6.<\/strong> He was immense in defense both before and after Kalulu was sent off. His clearance off the line that produced a double doink in the first half was rather critical, and he finished the day with seven<\/em> tackles and a pair of blocked shots. His rating is this low because of his rather atrocious marking on Esposito\u2019s goal\u2014although it has to be assumed that someone else would\u2019ve been on the big young striker had Kalulu not been sent off. Like Cambiaso, he redeemed his mistake with a fantastic goal that looked for a time like it had given Juve a rabbit out of the hat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n FABIO MIRETTI – 5.5.<\/strong> Not a great performance overall from the NextGen grad, although he\u2019s saved from a total fail by two key passes and a good effort at goal in the early stages of the second half that forced Yann Sommer to double back for a kick save. But his short pass gave Bastoni the chance to take his dive, and he wasn\u2019t quite strong enough defensively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n FRANCISCO CONCEI\u00c7\u00c3O – 5.<\/strong> Missed one shot and wasn\u2019t at all productive on his side of the field. Indeed, it felt like Kalulu was the bigger threat at times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n JONATHAN DAVID – 5.5.<\/strong> Hard for him to get much in the way of touches after the red\u2014he only had 17 before he came off at the hour mark\u2014but he did have one key pass and ran his tail off trying to help defend after the red.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n KENAN YILDIZ – 6.<\/strong> Had a great curler saved by Sommer and had a key pass as well as three dribbles, although he was doubled and roughed up every chance Inter had.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n EMIL HOLM – 6.<\/strong> Had a pair of dribbles and defended well in Kalulu\u2019s stead after halftime. He\u2019ll need to be in top shape for his first Juve start next week against Como.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n JUAN CABAL – 5.5.<\/strong> Completed fewer than half his passes, but defended well enough on his side, as it was Federico Dimarco that caused the most threat on the other flank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 5.5.<\/strong> Completed nine of 10 passes and didn\u2019t make any mistakes in defense, but didn\u2019t make much impact trying to break out until the end, when he looped an admittedly difficult header into Sommer\u2019s hands with Juve\u2019s last attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n J\u00c9R\u00c9MIE BOGA – 5.<\/strong> Didn\u2019t look as sharp as he has in his first two performances. Made feeble attempts to dribble past a few defenders and misplaced some easy passes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
![\"MILAN,](\"https:\/\/platform.blackwhitereadallover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2026\/02\/gettyimages-2261203927.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n