Juventus kicked off 2019 by claiming their first trophy of the season, as Cristiano Ronaldo‘s header in the 61st minute was enough to claim the Supercoppa Italiana over AC Milan.
The Rossoneri battled and kept up with the reigning Scudetto champions for close to an hour, but the Portuguese marksman left his mark by getting on the end of Miralem Pjanic‘s looped ball to secure the Bianconeri‘s eight triumph in the tournament – the most ever.
Ronaldo‘s impact stood in stark contrast to that of Gonzalo Higuain, who started the contest on the bench and came on to little or no impact in what many believe will be his last appearance before joining Chelsea.
Juventus had the best of the early exchanges, with Douglas Costa and Joao Cancelo sending efforts just wide of the mark.
Milan responded, but only thanks to Wojciech Szczesny, as the Polish goalkeeper misjudged a corner that Samu Castillejo fired over the bar.
Blaise Matuidi thought he had broken the deadlock in the 34th minute after latching onto a through ball and firing past Gianluigi Donnarumma, but he was flagged for offside.
New signing Lucas Paqueta looked sharp and found Hakan Calhanoglu, but his angled strike was expertly saved by Szczesny to close the half.
Milan came out flying after the restart and were a crossbar away from taking the lead. Pjanic‘s poor pass found Patrick Cutrone, but his left-footed strike came clattering back off the underside of the bar.
Juve had a penalty appeal turned down after Cristiano Ronaldo‘s cross hit Cristian Zapata‘s arm, but the ref waved play on as the Colombian was too close to the ball.
The Portuguese star would prove the difference in the 61st minute, as he headed a Pjanic ball over the top past Donnarumma to make it 1-0 for Juventus. There were suspicions of offside, but the goal would stand after a quick check on VAR.
VAR would play a key role a few minutes later, as Franck Kessie was initially yellow carded for an ugly stomp on Emre Can‘s ankle. However after a quick check by Luca Banti, red was shown – leaving Milan with it all to do in the final 15 minutes.
Donnarumma was called into action after Alex Sandro‘s cross deflected off Davide Calabria, but the Italian goalkeeper did just enough to push it onto the bar as the minutes ticked away on the Rossoneri‘s chances.
There would be no comeback in the final minutes however, as Juventus controlled proceedings to take home the Supercoppa Italiana.
