AC Milan's 27-game unbeaten run in Serie A ended with a 3-1 loss to Juventus that gives the defending champion renewed hope of a 10th straight title.
Federico Chiesa scored twice for Juventus with American Weston McKennie adding the third as Milan lost in the league for the first time since March, a streak dating back to last season.
“The lads are disappointed but in a way it is good for us to experience the bitter taste of defeat, because it’s been a while,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “I gave them a pat on the back, because when you give your all there shouldn’t be any regrets.”
Davide Calabria had equalised shortly before halftime for Milan, which was the last unbeaten team in any of Europe's top five leagues.
Milan still maintained their league lead, a point above city rivals Inter Milan, who lost 2-1 at Sampdoria. Juventus moved into fourth, seven points behind Milan with a game in hand.
“It was important to win for ourselves,” said Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo, who played for Milan for 10 seasons. “We didn’t look at the results of the others, we take it game by game and then we’ll see where we are in a few months.
“We had a good game, it was important to play with this spirit, control the game and try to win.”
Both Milan and Juventus had players ruled out with the coronavirus while the home side was also missing several through injury, including key forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
“Seven players out is a lot for anyone,” Pioli said. “We knew that if there was a team that we could find ourselves in difficulty against, it was Juve. It’s a team that has won nine straight titles, has great players and we held our own.”
