On Sunday in Serie A, Manuel Locatelli scored in the second half to give Juventus a 1-0 victory against AC Milan after the hosts had been reduced to 10 men due to defender Malick Thiaw’s immediate red card.
Fans of the US national team had to watch the match because prominent players Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah started for Milan, while Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie were in the starting lineup for Juventus.
Five minutes before halftime, a very slow-moving game took an unexpected turn when Thiaw was sent off for a last-man foul on Moise Kean.
Juve grabbed control thanks to their size advantage, and Locatelli’s 63rd-minute goal off Rade Krunic’s deflected long drive caught Milan goalkeeper Antonio Mirante off guard.
After the ninth round, Milan is in second place with 21 points, one point behind leaders Inter Milan, while Juventus is currently third with 20 points.
After Inter defeated Torino 3-0 on Saturday, Milan needed to win to retake the top spot in Serie A. However, they were absent a number of important players due to suspensions, notably Mike Maignan, their starting goalkeeper, and Theo Hernandez, a defender.
AC Milan forward, Olivier Giroud had the opening chance, but Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made a stop in response after he fired a low drive toward the post from close range.
Moise Kean had a chance to give Juve the lead with a tap-in at the post shortly after Thiaw was sent off, but he missed.
Since Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban received a red card in the first half of a Serie A match between Juve and Milan more than 25 years ago, Thiaw’s incident was the first of its kind.
Despite conceding the goal, Mirante displayed poise in the dying seconds of the game by first stopping Dusan Vlahovic and then pulling off a stunning double save in stoppage time.
Near the end of the game, Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri was frustrated and dissatisfied with his team. The 56-year-old man stormed off the field while still wearing his jacket and tie, earning him a yellow card.
Massimiliano Allegri, the manager of Juventus, claimed that his squad might have handled the numerical advantage better.
“Once we were against 10 men, we did not start the second half well. In the final minutes, we lacked patience and kept allowing Milan counter-attacks,” he told DAZN.
“If we are just content with the victory, then we will get nowhere. We need to build on this and improve where we are getting these things wrong.”