Gonzalo Higuain the Difference for Juventus Against Milan
A Gonzalo Higuain brace put AC Milan to bed at the San Siro, as Juve go top of Serie A, at least for the time being. A pair of clinical finishes separated the sides, as the away team took their chances.
Milan's early pressure in the opening moments set the standard for Juventus to play a counter-attacking style at San Siro. It was a cagey evening affair, with both sets of defenders willingly flying into tackles and using their physicality to try and get an edge.
Juve took an early lead through Higuain - with a goal that typifies the Argentine's game. Picking the ball up on the edge of the 18-yard box, Higuain found a slither of space from Alessio Romagnoli and struck venomously into the bottom right-hand corner.
Scoring his 100th Serie A goal in just 153 games, Higuain becomes one of the most lethal strikers in Italian history. However, Milan almost equalised on the stroke of half-time when Hakan Calhanoglu flicked on a long ball to Nikola Kalinic, whose effort hit the crossbar - to the delight of Gianluigi Buffon and his defenders, who celebrated the miss.
Kalinic, who returned to the starting lineup for this encounter, looked lively in the first half, battling with the Juve defenders but failed to get the all-important equaliser after his near miss.
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Going into the second half, Milan looked to chase the game, which opened up more space for Juve to exploit.
The Old Lady doubled their lead in the second half in familiar fashion, as Higuain scored his second of the night. A beautiful dummy by Paulo Dybala left the veteran marksman with the time and space to shuffle around the Milan defence and rifle the ball towards goal. Beating Gianluigi Donnarumma at his near post, the ball ricocheted off the post and nestled into the net.
The second goal capped off a brilliant smash and grab performance by Juve, playing a Milan side that was slow and sluggish in possession. In spite of all the expectation and belief surrounding Milan at the start of this season, this loss only adds to the evidence that they are a far way off the biggest sides in Italy.
Currently residing in eighth, Vincenzo Montella's position at the club will start to be questioned following another loss to their great rivals. Adding to their defeats to Roma, Napoli and Lazio this season - the pressure is rising in Milan.
