Juventus 0-3 AC Milan: Rossoneri dominate in Turin
Juventus 0-3 AC Milan: Rossoneri dominate in Turin
AC Milan ended their Juventus Stadium taboo with a thumping 3-0 victory, ending their run of nine consecutive Serie A defeats here and sending the Bianconeri right down to fifth place.
These teams went into the weekend locked together in second place with Atalanta, and just two points further from Napoli, but both those teams already won, and therefore the pressure was on during this Champions League play-off.
Federico Chiesa returned after three games out injured and Giorgio Chiellini pushed Leonardo Bonucci to the bench, while Samu Castillejo was suspended.
Matthijs de Ligt’s volley was the primary chance within the opening minutes, charged down bravely by Theo Hernandez, with Fikayo Tomori doing the identical on Adrien Rabiot.
Giorgio Chiellini got himself within the way of Zlatan Ibrahimović’s long-range strike and Brahim Diaz blasted over at the tip of a sensible one-touch passing move. The Spaniard also tested Wojciech Szczesny, but it absolutely was too central to really trouble him.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was almost caught in midfield when rushing off his line, but Simon Kjaer cleaned informed Cristiano Ronaldo.
Chiellini turned a free header wide on a corner at the rear post, but Alex Sandro had to create a brave and risky defensive header to prevent Zlatan Ibrahimović tapping within the Theo Hernandez cross.
Another Theo Hernandez cross was deflected, forcing Wojciech Szczesny to readjust at the near bottom corner, but the deadlock was tamed half stoppages.
Wojciech Szczesny failed to punch a place kick very far, so Brahim Diaz was able to control along with his chest and cut inside to curve a shocking finish into the far top corner. Giorgio Chiellini was on the road, but simply couldn’t reach it. There was a VAR silent check for possible handball, but the front point of view showed it absolutely was on the chest.
Juventus came out fighting after the break, Donnarumma immediately getting down for a one-handed save on Rodrigo Bentancur following the Alvaro Morata back-heel flick.
VAR was called into action when Brahim Diaz had another effort charged down by Chiellini’s outstretched arm, and inevitably it absolutely was a penalty. However, while Franck Kessie has a superb conversion rate from the spot, now Szczesny managed to palm it out from the underside corner and keep Juventus within the game. That was only the third time in his career that the Ivorian didn’t convert a penalty, the second this season.
Zlatan Ibrahimović limped off with a left knee issue, while Brahim Diaz also had an injury. Wojciech Szczesny had to go forth his line to smother at the feet of Hakan Calhanoglu and after a protracted period of Juventus possession without creating genuine chances, AC Milan doubled their lead.
Ante Rebic placed a stunner into the highest corner with the within of the proper boot from the sting of the realm, as Wojciech Szczesny could do nothing but watch it fly in.
The result was even heavier, as Calhanoglu floated a place kick into the box for Fikayo Tomori’s towering header, out-jumping Giorgio Chiellini. This was a vital goal, because it means AC Milan also now have an improved head-to-head record with Juventus, so are going to be ahead whether or not they finish level on points, because it ended 3-1 for the Bianconeri at San Siro in January.
Paulo Dybala came off the bench and his curler was deflected over by Simon Kjaer, then his curler skimmed the upright.