Juve Dominates 10-Man Milan, Closing in on Inter at the Top
Juventus closed the gap on Serie A leaders Inter Milan to just two points following a hard-fought 1-0 victory against AC Milan on Sunday. The match saw Milan play with 10 men for over half of the game.
In a tightly contested game at a packed San Siro, Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus secured the win thanks to a long-range strike by Milan youth product Manuel Locatelli, which found the back of the net 62 minutes into the match.
A massive 𝐖 for Juventus at San Siro 👊#MilanJuve pic.twitter.com/UCImBpPSmK
— Match Spoots (@matchspoots) October 22, 2023
Despite several key players missing from both teams’ starting lineups, Juve remained in third place but are now within striking distance of Inter, just a point behind Milan, who have relinquished their top spot to their local rivals.
The winning goal was credited to Locatelli, although it was a massive deflection off substitute Rade Krunic that changed the trajectory of the shot and made it impossible for Milan’s third-choice goalkeeper, Antonio Mirante, to stop.
Prior to that, Mirante had not been called upon to make any saves, even after Malick Thiaw was sent off just five minutes before halftime. The sending-off resulted from Thiaw’s challenge on Moise Kean, denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, as deemed by referee Maurizio Mariani.
Kean himself missed a glorious opportunity to put Juventus ahead just before halftime when he pushed Adrien Rabiot’s cross wide from point-blank range. Milan came out stronger in the second half, but Locatelli’s deflected goal seemed to deflate the hosts, leading to a rather uneventful remainder of the match, with Juventus content to maintain control without aggressively pursuing further goals.
Mirante did make his presence felt late in the game, making a crucial save to tip over a drive by substitute Dusan Vlahovic with five minutes left and pulling off an exceptional double save from Andrea Cambiaso and Vlahovic.
In another Serie A fixture, Stephan El Shaarawy’s late goal secured a 1-0 victory for Roma over 10-man Monza, propelling Roma into seventh place and keeping them in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
El Shaarawy’s goal came in the final minute of the match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, as Roma secured their third consecutive league win. They are now three points behind Napoli and fourth-placed Fiorentina, who have a match scheduled for Monday.
Monza had to play the entire second half with 10 men following Danilo D’Ambrosio’s sending off just before halftime, and despite a valiant effort, they were unable to prevent the late winner from El Shaarawy. Mourinho, Roma’s coach, was sent off in stoppage time due to tensions between the two teams’ dugouts, making a crying gesture at the Monza staff.
While it was a harsh defeat for Monza, who showed resilience despite being a man down for half the game, Roma’s victory took them up to sixth place, momentarily, until Atalanta won 2-0 against promoted Genoa, pushing them into fifth place with 16 points, two ahead of Mourinho’s team.
In other Serie A matches, Bologna, on goal difference, sit just behind Roma after a 2-1 win over promoted Frosinone, and Filippo Inzaghi’s new team, Salernitana, and Cagliari played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in a contest between two struggling sides.
