Juventus 1-2 AC Milan: Comeback win in Conceicao’s debut secures meeting with Inter | OneFootball

AC Milan began Sergio Conceicao’s tenure in the best way, coming from behind against Juventus to seal a spot in the Supercoppa Italiana final.

When Kenan Yildiz put Juventus ahead near the midway point in the first half and Milan struggled to even muster a shot on goal, it looked like being a long night for the new manager in Riyadh. However, the game turned on its head inside four minutes in the second half.

Firstly, Christian Pulisic was felled in the box by Manuel Locatelli and converted the spot kick to equalise, then substitute Yunus Musah had a cross diverted into the Juve net by Federico Gatti.

In a spirited performance towards the end, the Rossoneri saw out the closing stages of the game to book a place in Monday’s final, which will be a derby against Inter.

Conceicao’s first starting line-up as Milan head coach featured three changes from the last side his predecessor Paulo Fonseca named. Fikayo Tomori took Matteo Gabbia’s place, Ismael Bennacer joined the midfield and Christian Pulisic was back from injury.

Milan certainly started the game in quite an aggressive fashion, pressing Juventus high up the field and trying to force errors when playing out. The best they generated in the first 10 minutes though was a blocked Youssouf Fofana shot couple of corners, taken short by Tijjani Reijnders but cleared.

In the 21st minute Juventus took the lead with what was really the first major opportunity of the game. The Bianconeri broke through Milan’s midfield line and Mbangula spotted the run of Yildiz down the right, who had got in behind Theo Hernandez and fired past Mike Maignan at the near post.

It was a worrying case of defensive inattention that Conceicao will have certainly had some thoughts on, while what added some insult to injury was the fact that Yildiz was a late inclusion in the line-up because his son Francisco got injured in the warm-ups.

In many ways the first half mirrored the 0-0 draw at San Siro in the league back in October. The Rossoneri pressed and probed without ever really managing to get past or in behind a compact and resilient Juventus defence, and the issue was that this time they had to chase the game after conceding early.

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Bennacer was certainly in the wars during his first start since August, getting some rough tackles including a slide from McKennie and a boot in the face from Koopmeiners, albeit with the second one being very much unintentional.

Milan’s only real shot of the first half came from Fofana, who was fed by Bennacer around 25 yards out and went for a hooking first-time shot that never really troubled Di Gregorio in the Juve goal. At the other end, Yildiz looked to double his tally with an attempt from a similar range but Maignan this time saved.

There was yet more danger from Yildiz early in the second half as he came close to potentially putting Juve in a commanding 2-0 lead. Again they played through Milan’s high press and led a three-on-two break, with the Turkey international firing from the right corner of the box and drilling it just wide.

The first change of the game came in the 53rd minute as Bennacer made way for Yunus Musah. It seemed to be an obvious ploy to manage his recovery given that it was his first start in over four months.

Moments after the change, Milan really should have equalised through Theo Hernandez. A corner dropped at the near post and was squared to the Frenchman who seemed to have the easy task of firing in from a few yards out, yet he aimed for the roof of the net and sent it over the bar, with his team-mates amazing.

On the hour mark, the decision was made to withdraw Alex Jimenez for Tammy Abraham. The Spaniard showed some smart footwork but struggled to get into the game physically, and it seemed to mark the switch to a more direct 4-4-2.

Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images

With three-quarters of the game gone, Milan finally tested Di Gregorio with a shot on target and it was no surprise that it came from Reijnders. Pulisic laid it off to the Dutchman who whipped a first-time shot from range that the goalkeeper did well to get down to and grab.

Locatelli would help out his former club by gifting a penalty to Milan with 20 minutes left on the clock. Pulisic was chasing a loose ball away from a dangerous area yet the midfielder chopped him to the ground, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. The American took on the responsibility, and converted from 12 yards even if Di Gregorio nearly got to it.

There might have been the risk that the game would then meander towards penalties (with no extra-time), but Milan took the lead just four minutes after equalising. It required a huge stroke of luck, with Musah whipped a cross intended for the runners in the middle, but it took a huge deflection off Gatti and wrong-footed Di Gregorio.

With eight minutes left on the clock, Conceicao made a double change with Filippo Terracciano and Matteo Gabbia coming on for Morata and Emerson Royal.

Gabbia would have the last meaningful input of the game, making a heroic block right at the end to deny Gatti’s volley at the far post, after which the triple whistle came to signal the end of the game.