All square in Turin

The Argentine midfielder - on as a second half substitute - found the back of the net with the help of a deflection off Walter Samuel in the 77th minute after Cruz had put the champions ahead just before half-time.

The result left Juve in fourth place, a point off Roma in third, while Inter now lead Fiorentina at the top of Serie A by two points.

It was billed as the game of the season so far, and at times it did not disappoint; the encounter often resembled more a Premier League match than the cagey top of the table Serie A clash this was supposed to be.

The pace of the game was intense and, with both sides absolutely determined not to give an inch, some of the tackles on show would have been more at home on an English Sunday league pitch.

But despite the end-to-end action, neither side were presented with a real clear cut goalscoring chance until Cruz broke the deadlock in the 41st minute with a lovely finish.

The Argentinian latched onto a through pass from his compatriot Esteban Cambiasso, taking the ball down on his chest before composing himself and slotting past Gigi Buffon in the Juve goal.

Minutes later, the champions could have doubled their lead through former Juventus favourite Zlatan Ibrahimovich.

The Sweden international had been asked to face the wrath of his former fans on his own, as Patrick Vieira - another who has made the Bianconeri-Nerazzurri switch - sat out the game injured.

But the striker - jeered with his every touch of the ball - nearly silenced those boo-boys just before the half-time whistle sounded with what was almost a carbon copy of the opener.

The marksman controlled a pass through on his chest and took the ball in his stride, only for Giorgio Chiellini to get back and make a telling intervention just before the trigger was pulled. The ball skewed away and rolled narrowly wide of Buffon's upright.

At the other end, Juventus struggled to find a way through the Inter back line during the opening period, with Del Piero and Pavel Nedved restricted to taking long range pot shots which did not trouble Julio Cesar.

But after just five minutes, the hosts did have a loud penalty claim turned down after Ivan Cordoba appeared to wrap his arms around Alessandro Del Piero in the Inter box. Play was waved on and Cristian Zanetti should have done better with his shot when the ball broke to him on the edge of the area.

Inter continued to have the better of the chances after the break, and Cambiasso thought he had put Inter two up just before the hour mark but he had already been flagged offside when he gleefully slotted home a rebound from a well-struck Cruz free-kick.

Buffon in Juve's goal became an increasingly central figure as the game wore on and Inter went in search of a second that would have killed off the tie, but with three strikers on the pitch - Trezeguet, Del Piero and substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta - the Old Lady finally began to have some joy at the other end.

The introduction of Camoranesi on 70 minutes sparked Juve into life and Trezeguet saw an effort loop towards the top corner soon after before Nocerino tested Julio Cesar with a long range effort.

Seven minute later the Stadio Olimpico roared its approval as Juve pulled level. Raffaele Palladino started the move with a deep cross which found Iaquinta, who headed down for Camoranesi to lash goalwards. Julio Cesar appeared to have his angles covered only for the ball to strike Samuel and divert its flight sufficiently to wrongfoot the keeper and end up in the back of the net.