As always, the aura surrounding one of Italy’s oldest derbies – played regularly since 1901 – appeared to be electric.
But it took a good nine minutes for the first real chance of the match to arise, coming via Juan Cuadrado, who sent an ambitious effort zooming past Ciprian Tatarusanu’s far post through Fikayo Tomori’s legs.
However, it was Rafael Leao who came closer to drawing first blood, from an audacious and perhaps unintended effort from a corner that he agonisingly backheeled onto the left post to leave the San Siro gasping.
Keen to open the deadlock before HT, Leao threatened once again, this time letting fly an unstoppable piledriver aimed at the bottom right corner, which once again crashed off the post past a helpless Wojciech Szczesny.
But the breakthrough finally came on the stroke of halftime via centre back Tomori, who atoned for nearly conceding a goal in humiliating fashion earlier, by controlling a strong shot from Olivier Giroud right in front of the goal and rifling the ball into the roof of the net for his first goal in 10 months.
The Rossoneri carried that momentum into the second half, doubling their lead just ten minutes after the restart.
Shortly after Leao failed to register a goal, Real Madrid loanee Brahim Diaz stepped up to execute a brilliant individual effort, dribbling past four Bianconeri players, and latching his shot into the back of the net despite Szczesny getting a hand on it.
As the final minutes dawned, Juventus came close to halving the hosts’ lead via Arkadiusz Milik, who thumped a promising close-range header, only to see it fantastically saved by Tatarusanu’s reflexes.
Despite a host of substitutions for Juve, the visitors could hardly put up a convincing fight in the face of a tough Milan outfit, who have managed to avoid a second straight defeat at home since 2019. In stark contrast, the Bianconeri remain winless on the road since late April.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Rafael Leao (AC Milan)