Juventus is AC Milan's kryptonite.
With AC Milan running an 11-game streak, Juventus thwarted the unbeaten team at crunch time after eking out a 3-1 victory in San Siro on Tuesday.
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the most-watched footballers in the match, but AC Milan saw that the Portuguese could not tug a goal. In Cristiano's place, Federico Chiesa rose to be a stalwart threat for Milan.
Juventus ends Milan's streak
The 23-year-old winger was patient in the opening tipoff, with Juventus knocking an early goal at the 18th minute mark. Chiesa dazzled Milan with his ball control, then pulled his first goal for a 1-0 lead in the early going.
Minutes later, Davide Calabria gave Milan their lone goal in the match after he struck the 41st-minute goal to level the game.
But, the Juventus forward was not finished yet on his round trip to San Siro. Chiesa saw another open opportunity for a second goal as he schooled Milan with a 2-1 lead after Calabria's equalizer. Milan did not have an answer as Chiesa made a strong statement at the 62-minute mark as per SB Nation.
Paulo Dybala, who assisted Chiesa with his backheel pass, buckled a quick run then flashed across Milan's barricade. Rossoneri might still have hidden tactics to pull, but Milan ran out of time and patience.
The remainder of the half kept Milan in the waiting shed looking for a much-needed ball possession. Adrien Rabiot got stuffed in the tug-of-war but Milan successfully took the possession in their hands. There was no call whistled upon contact.
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Juventus did not lower their guard despite the 'bad' call by the video assistant referee. Instead, Juventus amped their defense and frustrated the Serie A top team with no goals recorded besides Calabria's 41-minute goal.
According to The Guardian, Milan struggled to pull a second goal as Weston McKennie sealed the win for Juventus at the 76th minute. Andrea Pirlo benched Chiesa after his second goal, then brought on McKennie and Dejan Kulusevski. Juventus extended their ball raid with the new replacement, and Milan remained shut-down for the rest of the second half.
Kulusevski was a huge trouble for Milan, with the midfielder limiting their movement down the stretch. The Swedish helped Juventus on offense by putting Milan defenders on skates and carrying the ball in the distance.
Milan could have towed goals from the outside, but Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny never held back on the defensive end. It was torture for Milan to score, with Juventus defenders circling the open strikers at the close.
Things got more complicated for Milan with their best striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, being ruled to sit out their match against Juventus. Ibrahimovic had posted a video that he was already fit to face the Juves. But, Milan boss Stefano Pioli scolded Ibrahimovic because his decision was to let his ace striker fully recover before allowing him to play again.
With the win, Juventus now ranked fourth in the Serie A standings ahead of Sassuolo. They now have 30 points. Juventus will be facing Sassuolo in their next game on Monday.
Milan is still on top with 37 points, just seven points ahead of the trailing Juventus. Milan will now be preparing for their match with No. 17 Torino on Sunday.
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