Super Coppa Italiana 2018-19, AC Milan 0-1 Juventus: 5 Talking Points
In the first ever Super Coppa Italiana to be played outside Italy, Juventus edged AC Milan 1-0 in the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah to win their record-breaking eighth Super Coppa Italiana courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo header.
After an exciting start to the match that saw end-to-end football from both the sides, Juventus and AC Milan shared the spoils to end the first half 0-0 after both the teams failed to get the upper hand over each other.
The second half though was much more open with Juventus finally getting into their rhythm. It was once again that man, Cristiano Ronaldo, who made the difference in the match as the Portuguese forward timed his run to perfection to head in a beautiful ball from Miralem Pjanic to give the Bianconeri the lead in the 61st minute.
There was further action to come as Frank Kessie was given the marching order in the 73rd minute after the Ivorian appeared to have his boot, stud first into, Emre Can legs, with VAR overturning the referee's decision to give the marching orders.
With a man down, Milan found it difficult to break through the well set Juventus defence as the Old Lady of Turin held onto to win their eighth Super Coppa Italiana.
#5 Juventus finally break their Super Coppa Italiana jinx
The seven-time consecutive champions Juventus had failed to win the Super Coppa Italiana in the past two seasons after having lost to AC Milan and Lazio in the previous seasons.
The defending Serie A champions had a poor record of just one victory in their previous four Super Coppa Italiana matches and there were doubts once again cast upon their Super Coppa aspirations.
This thought though was put to sleep as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first final goal for the Bianconeri to help them secure the first piece of silverware of the season.
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