Juventus 0-1 AC Milan: Honda fires Rossoneri to victory in opening match of Trofeo TIM

Date: 23rd August 2014 at 9:53pm
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AC Milan defeated Juventus 1-0 in the opening match of the 2014 Trofeo TIM at the Stadio Citta del Tricolore.

Keisuke Honda’s strike was enough to defeat the Bianconeri in a match where both midfields failed to find their rhythm.

The match opened slowly, with Juventus controlling the pace of play.

The two sides traded chances soon after with a diving Andrea Poli header drifting wide, followed by Arturo Vidal uncharacteristically shooting well over the goal a minute later.

Juventus then settled into control, holding the ball in the Milan half.

Andrea Pirlo played Paul Pogba into the Milan box only to have the Frenchman’s shot bounce harmlessly off Diego Lopez’s shins.

While Juventus still maintained dominance, Milan nonetheless found space down the left flank on the counterattack, with Jeremy Menez dropping deep to collect from the defense and Mattia De Sciglio making runs past his markers.

The Rossoneri took the lead when Poli won the ball in the Rossoneri half, before immediately sending De Sciglio racing down the left flank with a long ball. The defender played a perfect cross low to the penalty spot, where Honda beat Marco Storari with one touch of his favored left boot.

Milan continued to counterattack down the left, with a long Menez run rendered fruitless by Storari’s stuffing a Sulley Muntari sliding effort.

Honda failed to find the goal from a free kick soon after while Sebastian Giovinco failed to get a foot on Pogba’s low cross across goal.

The result gives the Rossoneri three points while forcing Juventus to face Sassuolo in the next match due to their defeat.

 

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