Sportiello saves Milan as Juventus drop two points at home again

Juventus dropped two more points after playing to a goalless draw against AC Milan this afternoon. The Bianconeri started the game on the front foot and won the first corner after just five minutes. However, they failed to convert either of the two corners in quick succession. Dusan Vlahovic soon tested Marco Sportiello with a shot, but the goalkeeper saved it, albeit uncomfortably.

It took almost 20 minutes into the game before Milan got close to troubling Juve’s defence. The skilful Rafael Leao beat his man, but the angle was tight, and he conceded a goal kick. Andrea Cambiaso had the next chance for Juve, but he shot wide as the Bianconeri looked for that elusive opener. In the 30th minute, Cambiaso set up Timothy Weah one-on-one with the goalie, but before he could shoot, a defender made a fantastic block out of nowhere.

Five minutes later, AC Milan could have taken the lead, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek somehow couldn’t direct his header goalwards. Vlahovic then had another chance to put Juve in front in the first half, but Sportiello was on hand to make a stunning save and deny the Bianconeri striker.

Juve began the second half keen on getting the opener and forced Sportiello into a stunning double save. Kostic shot first, and the Milan keeper parried it towards Danilo’s path, who shot on the rebound, but the goalie saved again. After Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot, and Tijjani Reijnders all tried to break the deadlock and failed, Max Allegri substituted Filip Kostic and Vlahovic for Federico Chiesa and Arkadiusz Milik.

However, it was Milan who came closest to scoring next as Loftus-Cheek had an ambitious shot that narrowly missed the target. Allegri brought on Weston McKennie for Weah with 19 minutes of normal time left. Two minutes later, Milik rose highest to head the ball towards goal, only for Sportiello to pull off another world-class save.

Despite their efforts, Juventus couldn’t score. The Bianconeri defended well, with Leao having another attempt to shoot blocked by Juve’s defence. Yildiz was the next Juventus player to leave the pitch, replaced by Fabio Miretti. The Turkish teenager was at the heart of some of Juventus’ best attacking moments in the game.

Sportiello made a mess of a simple ball, and Rabiot pounced on the rebound, but somehow Malick Thiaw made a goal-line block. That was as close as it got for Juventus. Milik then had the next chance to score, but the Pole headed off target as Juve became desperate for a goal. However, they never came close again, and Sportiello was the hero as Juve dropped points once more.