Thirteen-time winners Juventus reached the Coppa Italia final on the away goals rule at AC Milan’s expense as Italy’s football season restarted.
After drawing 1-1 in Milan on 13 February, Juve could not find the net in a semi-final second leg played behind closed doors in Turin.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty awarded for handball before Milan’s Ante Rebic was sent off.
It followed the Croatia forward’s 16th-minute foul on Danilo.
Juventus, under former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, will meet either Inter Milan or Napoli in Wednesday’s final in Rome.
Napoli take a 1-0 lead into Saturday’s (20:00 BST) second leg.
After both teams emerged separately from the tunnel before the game, there was a minute’s silence in memory of those who have died during the coronavirus pandemic, followed by applause for medical workers.
With no fans present, at times the game sounded like a training session but the hosts were presented with a great chance to take the lead on the night when they were awarded a penalty after a video assistant referee (VAR) review for handball.
However, Ronaldo’s effort hit the post and moments later Rebic was dismissed for an ugly challenge on former Manchester City full-back Danilo.
Juventus did most of the pressing, Blaise Matuidi forcing a good save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, while Paulo Dybala also forced the keeper into a fine save towards the end.
AC Milan, 27 points behind Juventus in the Serie A table, missed their injured forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Football was suspended in Italy on 9 March but Serie A returns on 20 June with leaders Juve one point clear of Lazio with 12 games remaining.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
Source link
