Goal : Two-goal Martin Caceres was the star of the show as Juventus beat AC Milan 2-1 in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie at San Siro on Wednesday night.
Caceres, in his first game back at Juve on loan from Sevilla, fired the Bianconeri ahead on 53 minutes, but Stephan El Shaarawy levelled matters just nine minutes later to restore parity. Caceres’ lofted effort in the closing stages proved the decider though, sending the tie to Turin with Juve in the box seat.
The visitors set the pace for much of the first half, taking the game to Milan with their usual fluid style, but after Marco Borriello failed to make the most of two good positions, El Shaarawy got himself into some space deep in Juve territory in one of the first moments of real threat. However, the young forward’s shot from near the byeline flashed just across the face of goal with no Milan team-mate around to tap in the loose ball.
A Juventus attack at pace down the left almost led to a goal at the other end, but after originally slipping, Marcelo Estigarribia leapt back up only to fire just wide of the far post. Moments later Emanuele Giaccherini drifted into space and sent a deflected effort looping towards the top corner of Marco Amelia’s net, but the Milan keeper scrambled across to push the ball over.
Further half chances came and went in the first half as Juve failed to turn their superiority into a half-time lead. But it would take them less than eight minutes to break the deadlock after the restart.