ROME: Inter Milan claimed their eighth Coppa Italia on Wednesday after an extra-time double from Croatian forward Ivan Perisic earned his side a 4-2 victory full of incident and controversy over old foes Juventus, ensuring Massimiliano Allegri’s team will finish the season trophyless.

Perisic secured a thrilling win with a double in the first half of extra time in the Stadio Olimpico but the match hung on the awarding of a soft-seeming penalty which Hakan Calhanoglu smashed in to take the match past 90 minutes.

Juve had been deservedly leading through quickfire goals from Alex Sandro and Dusan Vlahovic early in the second half and referee Paolo Valeri’s decision to give the spot-kick after Lautaro Martinez fell following a slight touch from Leonardo Bonucci enraged Allegri’s team.

“I always thought we could do it, even when we were 2-1 down... We lost our heads a bit for 10 or 15 minutes but we fought back and I think that we definitely deserved to win,” Perisic said to Mediaset.

For Inter it is another success over Juve after another controversial win in Turin last month and beating them to the Supercoppa Italia earlier in the season and is one which will boost them in their Serie A title defence.

Simone Inzaghi’s side trail AC Milan by two points and could hand their local rivals the Scudetto if they don’t beat relegation-threatened Cagliari on Sunday.

“This team never gives up,” Inzaghi said. “If I ever needed a response, I got nothing but responses from this side from July to today, it’s been one long whirlwind of emotions.

“Now we have two more Serie A matches to play and we want to end the season as well as possible. It is also only fair we enjoy these moments, it had been a decade since we won the Coppa Italia or the Supercoppa, so I am happy for the club, these amazing players and the fans who stuck by us from start to finish.”

Juve meanwhile have only Champions League qualification to show for an up-and-down season, but they chose to say nothing about the penalty decision.

Allegri, who was sent to the stands for protesting against a decision late on, will become the first Juventus manager since 2011 to finish a season without having won a single trophy, with Juve fourth in Serie A and out of title contention.

“We just have to congratulate Inter for winning,” Allegri told Mediaset. “We do not win a single trophy this season, we have to retain that anger for next season, when we must get back to winning.

“It was a good performance, but we fell away towards the end, there were players who were not fully fit and did all they could. It’s disappointing, but we can only thank them for their efforts. We learn from these experiences.

“It’s a pity, because we didn’t get the win against Inter in Serie A and did not take our revenge this evening either. Incidents can go against you some days, in favour the others.”

Inter started on the front foot, racing into the lead after six minutes as Nicolo Barella arrowed a stunning strike into the top corner.

However from then on Juve were the better team and should have gone in at the break at least level, if not ahead.

Paulo Dybala was the first to offer signs of life in the 23rd minute when his low shot was comfortably saved.

Moments later the Argentine fed Vlahovic whose powerful, angled drive needed smart reactions from Samir Handanovic to be kept out.

Matthijs de Ligt had a header well saved on he half-hour mark and it looked for all the world that Dybala would bag a deserved leveller when the subsequent corner fell kindly to him, but he sliced his first-time strike wide.

Juve soon turned the match on its head though, with Sandro levelling the scores five minutes after the break when his shot slipped through Handanovic’s hands as Alvaro Morata tried to deflect the ball.

The Juve fans were jumping and their end of the ground exploded with joy seconds later, Vlahovic ending a four-match dry spell in front of goal after being sent flying through on goal by Dybala.

The Serbia forward sent Danilo D’Ambrosio packing and although his first effort was kept out, the 22-year-old made no mistake on the rebound.

Juve looked to have the game under control until referee Valeri handed Inter an ill-deserved lifeline.

Calhanoglu rifled home from the spot and an already fired-up Juve team then lost control when De Ligt was ruled after a VAR check to have chopped down Stefan de Vrij.

Perisic stepped up to smashed in the penalty in the 99th minute before making sure of a first Coppa Italia triumph since 2011 for Inter with a powerful finish into the top corner.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2022