AC Milan rudely shoved Juventus out of the Serie A\u00a0top four with a rousing 3-0 win in Turin on Sunday, thus increasing their hopes of Champions League football for the first time since 2014.<\/p>\n
Brahim Diaz nudged Milan ahead just before the break with Anton Rebic and Fikayo Tomori slamming in two more in the second half after Franck Kessie\u2019s missed penalty. Milan are now third, equal on 72 points with second-placed Atalanta, with Napoli a further two points behind in fourth.<\/p>\n
Juventus awkwardly find themselves in fifth, one point behind the top four with three games left to play, including next weekend’s clash with newly-crowned champions Inter Milan.<\/p>\n
“We had a great game, a victory over a direct rival at this moment in the championship is very important,” said Milan coach Stefano Pioli whose side had experienced a 3-1 loss to Juve in the San Siro in January.<\/p>\n
“We still have to fight. But I have a very young team, that is maturing as this evening proved.”<\/p>\n
The breakthrough sallied in just before the halftime whistle with Diaz scoring on the rebound after Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny cleared a free-kick by Hakan Calhanoglu.<\/p>\n
Milan should have gone two up just before the hour when Giorgio Chiellini was penalised for handling the ball, but an indomitable Szczensy denied Kessie’s lame penalty effort.<\/p>\n
Milan’s star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off with a left knee injury after 65 minutes with Diaz also replaced five minutes later.<\/p>\n
“He wasn’t at his best, but he didn’t want to miss the match,” said Pioli of the 39-year-old Swedish striker.<\/p>\n
“He has a sore knee, but I don’t think it’s something serious.”<\/p>\n
Rebic put the icing on the cake and doubled Milan’s lead with a fabulous strike with 12 minutes left to go and Tomori added the finishing touch with the cherry when he headed home the third only minutes later.<\/p>\n
Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo was stumped for words to explain what went wrong with their star striker Cristiano Ronaldo adding zilch to his Serie A-leading 27 league goals.<\/p>\n
“We got into the game pretty well and then little by little we fell apart … It’s hard to explain,” said Pirlo.<\/p>\n
“When you lose 3-0 in such an important game, it means that there are a lot of things that did not work.”<\/p>\n
Pirlo ruled out resigning, insisting:<\/p>\n
“No I won’t step aside. I undertook this work with a lot of enthusiasm, with difficulties, but my work continues.<\/p>\n
“I think I can do better. There are three games left and I will continue to do my job as long as I can.”<\/p>\n
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