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Inter saves De Boer with comeback Derby d'Italia win over Juve

Reuters

Milan - A second-half winner by Ivan Perisic boosted Frank De Boer's survival prospects as Inter fought to a deserved 2-1 Derby d'Italia win over Juventus in Serie A on Sunday.

De Boer, who succeeded Roberto Mancini at Inter two weeks before the start of the season, was rumoured to be facing the sack after a midweek defeat to Hapoel Be'er Sheva followed a run of poor results in the league.

But the former Ajax handler's job looks safe, for the meantime, after Inter put its Europa League shocker behind it with a battling performance at a packed San Siro to hand the champion its first defeat of the season.

Stephan Lichtsteiner opened the scoring for Massimiliano Allegri's visitor against the run of play on 66 minutes, but Mauro Icardi continued his impressive form against Gianluigi Buffon by hitting the leveller just two minutes later.

Related - Watch: Icardi continues to be Juventus' kryptonite

Perisic then came off the bench to nod the winner from Icardi's deft cross 12 minutes from time to send Inter up to seventh place in the table.

Inter is now three points behind Napoli, which, on 10 points, holds a one-point lead on Juventus.

The goal-scoring prospects for either side looked bleak after goalless outings against European opposition this week.

Juve was held to a scoreless draw by Europa League winner Sevilla in its Champions League opener, while Inter looked completely hapless on its way to a 2-0 reverse against its Israeli visitor at the San Siro.

But the Derby d'Italia was the perfect chance for De Boer to convince his employers, and the Dutchman didn't disappoint.

He dropped Marcelo Brozovic for disciplinary reasons and Perisic was initially only fit enough to start on the bench.

Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri, meanwhile, kept star striker Gonzalo Higuain on the bench, with Mario Mandzukic partnering Paulo Dybala, although the Argentine striker was visibly frustrated as he sat on the touchlines.

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