AC Milan’s four-game winning run in Serie A came to an end as they were beaten 1-0 by Juventus at San Siro on Sunday night.
The big moment of the match came with five minutes left in the first half when referee Maurizio Mariani adjudged Malick Thiaw to have committed a last-man foul on Moise Kean, producing a red card which conditioned the game.
It was Milan who stayed on top for the vast majority of the game despite being a man down, but it was Manuel Locatelli’s deflected second half shot which beat Antonio Mirante and ended up being the winner.
The result means that the Rossoneri lose top spot to rivals Inter who they are now one point behind, while Juve now move one point behind Stefano Pioli’s side in third place.
Milan came into the game with eight absences including the likes of Mike Maignan, Marco Sportiello Theo Hernandez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Samuel Chukwueze. Antonio Mirante was therefire in goal, Alessandro Florenzi got the nod at left-back and the midfield was Yacine Adli flanked by Yunus Musah and Tijjani Reijnders.
The home side certainly started on top, forcing a couple of corners in the early exchanges and having their first shot on goal in the sixth minute when Reijnders was encouraged to shoot from 20 yards out but couldn’t find the top corner.
Juventus threatened for the first time soon after with a break down the left side, but the ball pulled back to Weah on the edge of the box saw his shot blocked by his own player McKennie.
Szczęsny was called into action for the first time in the 15th minute and it was an absolutely sensational stop to keep out Olivier Giroud. Rafael Leao got the better of his man twice down the left and whipped in a low ball that found Giroud’s run, and his low angled shot was turned behind fantastically.
Juve had a good opportunity to test Mirante with a free-kick from a central location 25 yards out, but Milik’s initial effort was blocked and Kostic’s follow-up thankfully bounced wide of the far post.
After half an hour the pattern of the game had become apparent as Milan had over double the completed passes of Juve as well as the majority of the possession, and they needed to remain patient to try break down the visitors’ defensive lines.
The Bianconeri provided the occasional reminder of their threat on the break, such as when Rabiot drilled a low cross/shot across goal that evaded everyone and went wide.
Five minutes before the break there was a major turning point in the game as Mariani sent Malick Thiaw off. A ball in behind saw Kean get goalside of the German and he hauled him down, with the referee quickly producing a red card for what he deemed to be a last-man challenge.
Christian Pulisic was the man who Pioli decided to sacrifice in order to bring on another centre-back, and it was Pierre Kalulu who came on to slot in next to Fikayo Tomori.
Kean should have sent Juventus in a goal up at the break when we has was found with a perfect ball across the face of goal to the far post, yet the touch he provided somehow sent the ball wide.
Milan actually started the second half better and they earned a number of dangerous set piece situations but their delivery ultimately let them down each time, with the best cross being one that hit Mariani on the back of the head, drawing amusement.
Just before the hour mark, Pioli made a couple more changes as Rade Krunic came on for Adli and Luka Jovic took the place of Giroud, perhaps with an eye on the fixture in midweek.
In the 63rd minute, Juventus took the lead and it was against the run of play. Locatelli wound up for a shot from 30 yards out that deflected off Krunic’s knee and went in down the middle of the net given Mirante had already dived.
Milan continued to have the better of possession and Juve looked to get the second on the break, while Pioli made a couple of changes with just over 10 minutes left as Simon Kjaer and Luka Romero came on for Calabria and Reijnders.
Mirante made a good reaction save to deny Juventus substitute Vlahovic getting what would have been the killer goal inside the final five minutes.
The final chance of the game saw Mirante come to the rescue again, making a double save to deny Cambiaso’s curling shot and Vlahovic’s attempt to tuck in the rebound from a couple of yards out.