ROSSONERE STUNNED BY JUVENTUS AT HOME

The Rossonere fought toe-to-toe but were stunned at the death by the Bianconere to fall to a narrow defeat on matchday 3 in the Women’s Serie A. In front of a sellout crowd at the PUMA House of Football, the weekend’s big match between AC Milan and Juventus ended 1-0 to the away side, following a tactical and evenly-balanced game characterised by lots of battles and few scoring opportunities. For large parts of the game, the two sides tried to catch out their opposition’s backline, but couldn’t quite find the final ball, until the sucker-punch by Caruso a few minutes from full-time when it seemed like the game was going to end goalless.

Over the course of both halves, the tempo of the game failed to get going, with both sides' defences having the better of their respective oppenent's attacks, yet in the final 15 minutes one episode - from both sides - could have changed the outcome of the game, and that's what happened. Despite a positive performance, Coach Ganz's side were unable to back up their last-gasp win over Napoli in the previous match, and stay on three points in the table. Attentions have already turned towards the next fixture to bounce back and get back to winning ways immediately: on Saturday 14 October at 18:00 CEST, a tricky trip to Como. Forza ragazze!

CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v JUVENTUS

MATCH REPORT
Evenly poised from the get go, both sides chose the wings as their route of attack. It was from here that AC Milan's first chance of the match came, as Laurent's left-footed strike flew just past the wrong side of the crossbar (7'). The Bianconere's response came in the 22nd minute as Beerensteyn let one fly from the edge of the box, but Giuliani was alert and tipped it over the crossbar. Juventus gained yards and won corners in the second half, but the Rossonere defended well and tried to break forward on the counter, relying on the speed of Dompig and Laurent. An uneventful first half ended 0-0.

The match struggled to find its rhythm again at the start of the second half. In the 54th minute, Beerensteyn turned Girelli's soft cross towards goal, but Giuliani stretched out and kept it out with a great diving save. AC Milan grew as the half went on, putting pressure on the Bianconere's back line, but failed to find that end product. In the 72nd minute, Dompig and Stašková failed to convert a scrappy half-chance in the box, while in the 77th minute a powerful strike by Bonansea was. again, not quite enough. Three minutes before the end of regular time, the Bianconere unexpectedly took the lead: Nyström found Caruso who, from the centre of the box, sealed all 3 points with a clinical finish. The final result left no reward for AC Milan, with the match ending 0-1.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS
"We played really well, so to concede at the death really hurts because we were playing in the right manner," Coach Ganz said after the game. "There were many positive aspects on show and we know where our strengths are, but we go home with no points."

MATCH DETAILS

AC MILAN 0-1 JUVENTUS

AC MILAN (4-3-3): Giuliani; Guagni, Swaby, Fusetti, Bergamaschi; Grimshaw, Cernoia (62' Mascarello), Dubcová (81' Adami); Laurent (72' Marinelli), Stašková, Dompig (81' Árnadóttir). Subs: Copetti; Piga, Thrige; Arrigoni, Asllani. Coach: Ganz.

JUVENTUS (4-3-3): Peyraud-Magnin; Boattin, Lenzini, Cascarino, Nildén; Caruso, Grosso, Garbino (64' Bonansea); Cantore (46' Thomas), Girelli (64' Nyström), Beerensteyn (94' Bellucci). Subs: Aprile; Cafferata, Salvai, Sembrant; Palis. Coach: Montemurro.

Referee: Arena from Torre del Greco.
Goals: 87' Caruso (J).
Booked: 22' Garbino (J), 59' Cernoia (M), 85' Grimshaw (M).

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