AC Milan 2-0 Juventus: Tomori and Brahim Diaz net as Rossoneri respond well

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan recorded a crucial home win at San Siro on Saturday night as they beat Juventus 2-0 in front of a sell-out crowd.

It was a goal in each half that was enough for Milan to notch another win over their fierce rivals, with the first one coming just before the break as a corner was not cleared and Fikayo Tomori eventually thumped home from close range after blocking an Olivier Giroud shot.

The second goal had the entire crowd almost in amazement as Brahim Diaz pounced on a loose ball from Manuel Locatelli, knocking it past Leonardo Bonucci and beating Szczesny after putting himself through on goal.

The win moves the Rossoneri seven points clear of the Bianconeri and into second place even if only temporarily until the teams around play their games.

Stefano Pioli elected to make four changes to the starting line-up compared to the team that lost to Chelsea in midweek as Sergino Dest was dropped for Matteo Gabbia with Pierre Kalulu shifting to right-back, Tommaso Pobega came in for Rade Krunic to form a three-man midfield, Brahim Diaz took Charles De Ketelaere’s spot and Theo Hernandez returned at left-back.

The opening stages of the game saw Milan actually line up in more of their usual 4-2-3-1 with Pobega ahead of the Tonali-Bennacer double pivot and Diaz operating more from the right, with plenty of fractious challenges and bickering between the players.

The first half-chance of the game went to the away side in the ninth minute as Locatelli surged forward with the ball and fed it wide to Cuadrado who was given space to drive towards the box and fire narrowly wide of the far left post.

It was Milik who had the next opportunity as a dummy from Vlahovic allowed a cut-back to find the Polish striker, who backed into his man before turning and firing a shot straight at Tatarusanu from just inside the box. Danilo would follow it up with a low shot from 25 yards that was wide of the far post.

Milan were centimetres away from taking the lead in the 20th minute via what would have been a rate set piece goal. The ball came in from the right and was flicked on by Kalulu at the near post, with Leao reacting to flick it goalwards but onto the post and behind for a goal kick.

There were big appeals for a penalty just before the half hour mark as Leao hit a cross-shot that was deflected behind by Vlahovic, and with Giroud screaming for VAR to take a look at it they decided it was no spot kick, although the Serbian forward did seem to jab his elbow towards the ball.

The Rossoneri continued to get closer to breaking the deadlock as Leao hit the woodwork again, this time with a shot from distance 12 minutes from the break that curled past Szczesny and hit the base of the post.

Right on the stroke of half-time, Milan took the lead that their pressure had deserved. Another dangerous corner fell to Giroud who attempted a first time shot on the pivot, and it struck Tomori’s midriff around eight yards out before dropping for him to spin and fire into the roof of the net.

Allegri chose to make a change at the break as the cautioned Cuadrado came off for McKennie, and Vlahovic’s elbow was again the subject of attention as he followed through with a block-off and flattened Theo Hernandez, with Pioli claiming foul play but hand shakes in the end.

Leao continued to be at the heart of virtually everything that Milan created as he made surging runs to open up the away defence, but he would have hoped to do better when letting fly from the edge of the box eight minutes into the second half, firing over instead.

Leao’s miss would not be regretted for too long though, as Milan made it 2-0 in the 55th minute. It was all Brahim Diaz this time, as the Spaniard seized a loose pass and knocked it around the final defender Bonucci to get through on goal, and then finished past Szczesny who could only get a touch on it as the ball rattled the back of the net.

Changes followed in two batches for Milan, as Rade Krunic came on in place of Tommaso Pobega, and then not long after the Bosnian headed wide there were two more changes with Charles De Ketelaere and Ante Rebic coming on for Brahim Diaz and Giroud respectively.

It really should have been game over at the midway point in the second half as a ball over the top found a surprise run in behind from Theo Hernandez, who beat Szczesny to the ball and steadied himself, but chose to try and shoot into the far corner with the ball not quite curling inside the post.

Juve let Milan off as they had a big chance to halve the deficit and get back into the game when a beautiful cross from the right found Milik’s head about 10 yards out, yet his downward header was straight into the arms of Tatarusanu.

In truth, Milan then began to almost toy with their visitors as they continually gave the ball away in dangerous areas – often in their own half – with Pioli’s men then torn between trying to do more damage or manage the game well.

Just after Leao did keepy-ups near the touchline to really rub in how much Milan were in control, there was a final double change as the Portuguese winger and Bennacer came off for Divock Origi and Aster Vranckx.

Kalulu was one of many contenders for the title of Man of the Match, and he made a decisive intervention to deny Moise Kean after he had got inside the box and had the goal gaping.

There was a late chance for Origi to open his account for Milan as he burst through on goal but saw his shot saved from a narrow angle, and the final action was a flashpoint as Tonali got kicked in the follow through from a free-kick that caused a square-up and some bookings to be distributed.

Tags AC Milan Milan-Juventus

5 Comments

  1. It’s great to see us bounce back, the competition for the trequartista spot is at an all time high and this formation (4-3-2-1) was quite nice

  2. After the match against chelsea midweek where we in my opinion actually started out fairly promising in the first 15 minutes and then completely lost our heads and started to play frantically throughout the remaining match and thereby failed collectively this win today was a great perfomance where we ran the show throughout the match. We could have scored 5-6 goals or something as we hit the posts twice and was at least borderline cheated for two penalty kicks from what i could see.
    huge applause to the boys.

  3. Another tactical genius (or idiot, according to the godlike member here, Toni) by Pioli. I’ve said here before why didn’t we try to take Diaz wider, so that he doesn’t get bullied as we often see on the central gravity position. And finally the moment comes. We could’ve won win more that 2 margins and that’s fantastic considering the injuries.

    Gabbia calmness deserves lots of credits as well. Hopefully it’s just an upward curve from here on out for him. Tomori’s back to his usual self.

    1. Yeah. I wish Pioli would have tried Diaz as RW ages ago (as we here have been begging). Maybe Pioli now finally gets it and solves the RW issue temporarily?

  4. Great win by the boys and Pioli.
    Always feels great to beat Juventus.
    Great goal by Brahim.
    Milan should have scored more goals but players were selfish.
    Juventus are horrendous to watch
    Also officiating was awful. Milan should have had 2 penalties but also Tomori goal doesn’t happen if ref calls clear foul on Theo before the corner.
    Forza Milan

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