As for Juventus boss Max Allegri, he might face a few questions as to whether Gonzalo Higuain should have started the match. After all, why spend £75.3m on a striker if you're not going to start him in one of the biggest matches of the Serie A season?

Image source, Reuters

The Inter players link arms and run towards their supporters. The noise at the San Siro is deafening. Frank De Boer's team had made a deeply unimpressive start to the season, but that is all forgotten now.

Now that is a turn-up. Juventus beaten. There was still time for Inter goalkeeper Handanovic to get a booking for time wasting, as he dawdled over a goal kick in the 96th minute. There was not time, though, for Juve to save themselves.

Seconds left for Juve... Alex Sandro crosses, Miranda heads out for Inter... the ball runs loose for Paulo Dybala... but the shot bobbles wide.

More drama... a scramble in the Inter penalty area as Juve seek to force an equaliser. Sami Khedira goes in with goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, looking to reach a loose ball inside the six-yard box. There's a collision; both players end up on the floor. Is it a penalty? No. The referee penalises Khedira for the foul.

Inter must see this out with 10 men. Ever Banega, booked a few moments ago, drags back Alex Sandro to stop a speedy Juventus break in its tracks. He can have no complaints - and he probably won't if his team-mates hold on through four minutes of stoppage time.

Juventus continue to press, Inter are sitting deep... but then the champions lose the ball. Joao Mario breaks, with Ever Banega and Ivan Perisic in support. It's Perisic, the substitute, with the fresh legs, who picks a way through the weary players around him - but Juve do just enough to frustrate him.

So close. Juventus win a free-kick right of centre, 25 yards out. There's a brouhaha among the Inter players, which is either borne of genuine indignation at the decision or is an attempt to delay the kick for a few vital seconds. Eventually, Miralem Pjanic steps up and bends the ball over the wall... but just over the bar.

It's all happening. Perisic, seeking another goal, fires a shot from a tight angle that Buffon palms out.

With seconds, Alex Sandro whips over a cross from the left at the other end, and Gonzalo Higuain's glancing header misses by a whisker. Samir Handanovic, in the Inter goal, is nowhere near it.

Amid all of that, Juventus have replaced Giorgio Chiellini with Zach Muscat.

The home fans roar once more as Mauro Icardi spreads the ball left to Ivan Perisic. The substitute, urged on by the San Siro support, dances across the face of the penalty area, looking for a gap in Juve's defences. The visitors stand firm; there is no way through.

And now Gonzalo Higuain gets his chance for Juventus; the striker is on for Mario Mandzukic. Seconds earlier, Juve midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah went into a challenge rather recklessly. Like Litchsteiner, he too is on a booking. Asamoah is treading a fine line.

Inter take off Gary Medel and send on Felipe Melo. It's set up for a gripping final quarter-hour.

Well, the noise has raised a few decibels at the San Siro. Stephan Lichtsteiner, already on a yellow card, handles the ball and conceded a free-kick. The home fans demand a second booking for the Juve wing-back, they don't get one.

Then a fuming Mauro Icardi screams at the referee as he challenges for a cross, insistent that Juve centre-back Giorgio Chiellini has dragged him back. Again, nothing doing.

Amid all of that, there's a substitution. No, it's not Gonzalo Higuain; he remains on the Juventus bench, his beard bristling. It's Inter who make the change, with Ivan Perisic who has come on for Eder.

Inter keep going; this has been a much-improved display from them. Perhaps their best form of defence is attack. A rare Girogio Chiellini error gives the home side an opening. Mauro Icardi floats a diagonal ball beyond the far post, and Antonio Candreva, the angle against him, connects perfectly. It's a superb volley - it whizzes across goal and just wide. That would have been some goal.

Meanwhile, on the Juventus bench, Max Allegri wrestles with the Gonzalo Higuain question. Is it time to throw on the man who was Serie A's top scorer last season? Not yet, not yet.

Image source, Reuters

Suddenly, though, Juventus start to threaten again... like a polar bear eyeing up a seal in a David Attenborough documentary. A spell of patient passing, around 30 yards from goal, ends with a cross towards Alex Sandro, who just can't get into a position to shoot, and Inter clear. The seal lives to fight another day.

Nervy moments these for Juventus. Sami Khedira loses the ball to the tigerish Gary Medel, and Ever Banega works it towards Eder. The shot is deflected, wrongfoots Gianluigi Buffon, and falls not too far past the post. Could this be Inter's night yet?

Image source, Getty Images