Hello Interfriends,

Inter have taken the habit of drawing games another step further with a 2-2 tie against Juve. The draw should not be news worthy any more as Inter have tied 11 matches thus far. However coming back from a 2 goal deficit for the second straight week is more exciting. But coming back against Juve, well that makes it headline news.

Inter fell behind 2-0 with goals by Zalayeta and Ibrahimovic but Mancini invents a 4-2-4 formation with Recoba, Adriano, Vieri and Martins all on the pitch to help gain the draw with Vieri and Adriano scoring for Inter and earning the point. Inter are still 15 points behind Juve and that however is the most important fact of the day.

Mancini insists on going with Mihajlovic in the center of defence and also starts with Van Der Meyde and Davids as wingers in a 4-4-2 formation with Cambiasso and Stankovic central with a striker partnership of Adriano and Martins.

The first 15 minutes of the match were not exciting as both teams seemed to be in study mode, but Inter did seem to have more control of the ball but could not create any clear cut chances. The final pass of Veron would have been an asset today as Stankovic playing in the center could not feed the strikers. Inter had very little play on the wings and so it was up to Adriano and Martins to find a solution which never arrived.

Juventus who were in a gear below held there back line well and really did not give up chances to the Inter forwards. When in possession they moved the ball well as is expected from a team that has played together for a long time. Camoranesi and Nedved added spark attacking and swapped well with defensive players like Zambrotta on the wing to create space.

But Inter do well to control and seemed to have the marking right. If Nedved would cut inside, Zanetti would follow and either Van Der Meyde or Stankovic would stay wide on Zambrotta. Cordoba and Mihajlovic stuck tight on Zalayeta and Ibrahimovic making the half a pretty bland and blocked affair.

Only two goal scoring chances were seen all half as Davids cleared a Nedved header from a corner kick off the line and Zebina just did enough to stop Adriano from scoring on a great through ball by Stankovic which unfortunately was his only one of the match. The first half ends 0-0 and all to play for in the second.

The second half starts with Inter making a change and bringing on Ze Maria for injured Favalli. J. Zanetti takes his spot on the left with the Brazilian playing on the right. It was a change that needed to happen because of injury but it did have an impact on Inter who had some good balance in the first half.

It took only a few minutes into the second for Inter to go down 1-0 and were unlucky to do so. Nedved takes a long range shot from outside that Toldo looks to have covered but the ball takes a deflection off of Zalayeta's knee to beat Toldo to the left as he was already moving to the right.

Its the tale of Inter's season thus far. Either a bad defensive mistake, or an unlucky deflection like tonight see the team punished despite playing well. Stankovic had a classic expression after the goal looking up to the stars and shrugging as if to say hey, here we go again...what more can we do?

Inter have a tough time digesting the unlucky goal and Juve begin to take control of the match as they move the ball around well and send many crosses into the area for the tall strikers of Ibrahimovic and Zalayeta. If the first goal was an unlucky break, the second goal was defensive amnesia on Inter's part as Ibrahimovic draws a defender wide and then passes to Camoranesi. Mijaholivic takes the bait and moves towards the side but leaves Zalayeta all alone as Camoranesi passes and sets him free.

Toldo could do nothing but rush out and make a challenge. The ball goes past him, and Zalayeta falls giving Juve the Penalty Shot. To be fair Toldo should have been red carded as he was clearly the last man but was saved by the ref and took only a yellow. Ibrahimovic converts and the game looks to sealed as they lead 2-0 at the 21st minute.

Mancini decides to go for it all and turns his formation from a 4-4-2 to a 4-2-4 bringing on Vieri and Recoba for Davids and Van Der Meyde and lining up with Recoba wide on the left, Vieri and Adriano central with Martins wide on the right.

Vieri puts life back into the match as he takes a great ball into the area and puts a wonderful diagonal shot past buffon to make it 2-1. The comeback is made complete with only 5 minutes left as Vieri then feeds Martins wide on the right side. Adriano starts his run into the center and Martins sends an inch perfect pass behind the defence for Adriano to volley a wonderful goal past Buffon to make it 2-2.

The final assault does not lead to a third goal and once again Inter must settle for a draw instead of the win. Overall they played well but an unlucky bounce and a huge defensive mistake cost Inter the 3 points. The team has so much potential going forward and has displayed some wonderful football but can't seem to find the key to victory.

Given that this draw came against Juve and also involved a wonderful comeback with two great goals, Inter leave the pitch among applause and ovation. In reality though, the only team that should be smiling after this game is Milan who know find themselves only 4 points back of Juventus for the title race.

Eddy Lio