Serie A | Juventus 1-1 Milan: Rebic responds to Morata
Alvaro Morata’s early goal was cancelled out by an Ante Rebic header, as Milan amid an injury crisis fought back to leave Juventus further behind the top spot.
This was a huge match, as the Bianconeri had just one point from three rounds, while the Rossoneri were on a 100 per cent record in Serie A. Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi were only fit for the bench, with Arthur Melo and Kaio Jorge injured, but Max Allegri dropped Leonardo Bonucci. Milan missed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Olivier Giroud, Davide Calabria, Rade Krunic, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Junior Messias, so Fikayo Tomori was re-routed to right-back.
It was the perfect start for the Old Lady, because Milan’s corner was cleared and Paulo Dybala sent Alvaro Morata running from midfield, keeping his cool to scoop the finish over Mike Maignan.
The Spaniard almost got a second, getting in front of Simon Kjaer to flick on the Alex Sandro cross and test Maignan, as did Dybala from distance, pinning the Rossoneri back for long periods.
Adrien Rabiot ran clear on goal after a divine Dybala back-heel flick sparked the counter, but Tomori easily out-sprinted him to get in front.
More injury problems piled up for Milan, because Kjaer pulled up with a muscular problem, replaced by Pierre Kalulu, returning Tomori to the centre.
Ante Rebic had a shot charged down by Giorgio Chiellini, Sandro Tonali drilling the rebound wide, and Rabiot at full stretch could only steer the Leonardo Bonucci ball over the top wide.
Brahim Diaz had a promising run into the box, but the ball got stuck under his feet and he was crowded out before getting a shot away.
Rafael Leao fired over the bar, while Maignan parried a Danilo angled drive, but once again Juventus failed to keep a Serie A clean sheet since March.
Tonali whipped in a corner and Rebic towered between Rabiot and Manuel Locatelli to nod it in off the inside of the far post. That was the third Serie A meeting in a row that the Croatian scored against Juve and the Rossoneri had been gaining momentum as the game wore on.
Rebic fired over from a tricky angle after a Brahim Diaz cross-field pass and Pierre Kalulu thought he must give Milan the win when sprinting down the right, but Wojciech Szczesny performed a desperate reaction save from point-blank range.
Juventus 1-1 Milan
Morata 4 (J), Rebic 76 (M)