Article by Romeo Ene – Published on Sunday, 15 February 2026, 08:04 / Updated on Sunday, 15 February 2026 08:04
Inter won the Italian derby with Juventusscore 3-2, in the 25th round of Serie A. The team coached by Cristi Chivu (45 years old) had an extremely complicated match against the “Old Lady”, but survived and prevailed in the final.
At 1-1, in the 66th minute, Chivu made a move that proved to be highly inspired. He introduced Francesco Pio Esposito (20 years old), the kid promoted by the Romanian from the Academy at the beginning of the season, and he scored 10 minutes later.
Francesco Pio Esposito, first reaction after contributing to Inter's success with Juventus
At the end, the striker spoke about the importance of this success, but also about the reaction of the reserve bank to his success.
“Evenings like this are what you dream of when you start playing football. The most I could have wished for tonight was a win with a goal scored by me and it was, I'm extremely happy. We can't talk about a completed goal, there are still a lot of matches, but it is an extremely important victory.
Today the decisive goal was scored by Zielinski, it was superb and I am happy for him. We approached the game as a win, we had to beat Juventus because it was important for our progress and we succeeded. The joy of the reserve bank at goals? Group enthusiasm after a goal is the most beautiful thing in this sport“, said Esposito, according to inter.it.
PHOTO. Tense scenes at the end of the derby between Inter and Juventus
Esposito (20 years and 231 days) thus became the second youngest Italian from Inter to score against Juventus in the last 60 years in Serie A (since 1970 to be exact), after Mario Balotelli (18 years and 249 days on 18 April 2009).
The forward has played 32 games this season for Inter, scoring 6 goals and providing 6 assists. He is quoted by the specialized website Transfermarkt at 35 million euros.
It was a difficult match, we are happy with the victory, it was not easy. We played against a strong opponent, we suffered, we can play even better, but a win is a win.
What? He does an excellent job, he talks a lot about the mental aspects because football is very much decided on a mental level; even today, after 2-2, we stayed in the match and then we won, we are satisfied: it is a very important victory and we are happy.
– Yann Bisseckthe defender of Inter Milan
Serie A standings up to date
