体坛英语新闻：Juventus beat Inter to win Derby d'Italia

MILAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Juventus avenged their loss to Inter early in the season in the Derby d'Italia as they won 2-1 at San Siro on Saturday.

Alessandro Matri hit in a somewhat controversial winning goal, and the Serie A leaders should consider themselves lucky after Inter missed out on a second-half penalty.

Fabio Quagliarella gave Juventus a 1-0 lead in the third minute when he picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and thumped it into the top corner. Nine minutes after half-time, Inter equalized when Antonio Cassano released Rodrigo Palacio in behind Juventus' defence and the Argentine midfielder beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon one-on-one.

But Inter's joy was short-lived, with Quagliarella setting up Matri for the winner on the hour mark.

Juventus head coach Antonio Conte praised Inter for causing Juventus problems, but also pointed out "we proved we have got better".

The Bianconeri had been beaten 3-1 in Turin earlier this season, ending their 49-match unbeaten Serie A run, and Conte apparently revelled after his side got revenge this time at San Siro.

"We achieved a great result, as in my view Inter are capable of beating anyone," he said.

"We proved that we have got better since November. I have to compliment my lads, as they were constantly on point. It is always a Match with a capital M against Inter.

"We put another brick down on the foundations of the Scudetto and it's a step forward, even if there are teams like Napoli and Milan behind us who can't wait to make the most of any slip-up.

"Juventus now go to Munich with great confidence. We are facing a strong Bayern side, but continue to embrace this dream. In Italy we realized that we are on the right track and now we want to measure ourselves against Europe too," he said.

Inter head coach Andrea Stramaccioni insisted Juventus scored the winning goal against the run of play, and it was a shame for his side to lose the game

"We conceded the early Fabio Quagliarella goal and with that stunning strike he put the game on the right track for Juventus," he said.

"We improved in the second half and had two great chances, forcing Juve to replace a striker with a midfielder. It's a pity we conceded the second goal during our best moment of the match.

"We have to maintain our objectives, as Inter put in a positive performance. Juventus are the best side in Serie A, so regrets remain because we had more than one chance to equalise," he said.

The home side were fervent in their protests as the ball appeared to go out of play before the goal.

But replays showed Quagliarella was fast enough to get to the ball before it rolled over the byline, cutting it back to Matri, who finished from close range.

Inter were complaining again later in the second half when the referee denied Cassano a penalty after he appeared to be brought down by Giorgio Chiellini, while in the final minute, the hosts lost Esteban Cambiasso to a red card for a studs up challenge on Sebastian Giovinco.

Riccardo Montolivo's close-range strike midway through the first half was enough for AC Milan to stretch their winning record in Serie A to four matches at the expense of 10-man Chievo.

The Italy midfielder took advantage of a goalkeeper error to net a 25th-minute goal, and despite Mario Balotelli's best efforts, Milan had to settle for a single-goal win.

Centre-back Dario Dainelli saw red for the home side late on and his dismissal put to bed any chance of Chievo getting back into the match.

Despite the victory, Milan remains in third position, two points adrift of Napoli following their 5-3 triumph away to Torino, which saw Blerim Dzemaili score a hat-trick and Edinson Cavani a brace.

Meanwhile, Lazio moved into fifth place above Inter after the capital city club defeated Catania 2-1.

Catania opened the scoring in the 50th minute at the Stadio Olimpico but Lazio picked up the three points after two goals in three minutes through a Nicola Legrottaglie own goal and Antonio Candreva's spot-kick.

The victory has taken Lazio to 50 points and into fifth position - a Europa League qualification berth - in Serie A, although Inter (47 points) have a game in hand.

Parma handed Pescara their ninth defeat in 10 Serie A matches when they thumped the bottom club 3-0, while Palermo beat Roma 2-0 and Genoa drew 2-2 with Siena.

In other Serie A results, Cagliari overcame Fiorentina 2-1 and Atalanta played out a goalless draw with Sampdoria.