Ronaldo rescues 1-1 draw for Juventus at Milan in semifinal

AC Milan vs Juventus 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late punishment Thursday to help Juventus rescue a 1-1draw at 10-man AC Milan in the main leg of their Italian Cup elimination round.

Ronaldo's stoppage-time punishment counteracted Ante Rebic's 62nd-minute opener for Milan, which will be without Zlatan Ibrahimović for the arrival apparatus on account of a suspension.

Milan protector Theo Hernández was sent off in the 71st after a subsequent yellow card.

Milan mentor Stefano Pioli said the late punishment shouldn't have been given.

"Just before the punishment episode there was a foul on Ibra that wasn't given," Pioli said. "The play wouldn't have proceeded in the event that the arbitrator had interceded, at that point. … I am content with the presentation yet frustrated with the outcome."

There was increased fervor at San Siro as it was the first run through Ibrahimović and Ronaldo had gone head to head against one another since 2015, when Paris Saint-Germain played Real Madrid.

About 73,000 observers were available — a record for an Italian Cup elimination round.

Ronaldo had scarcely a sight of objective at San Siro before his punishment. Ibrahimović went close on a few events however was reserved in the main half and will currently miss the arrival coordinate on March 4 as he had just gotten a yellow card in the challenge — in the quarterfinal against Torino a month ago.

Milan midfielder Samuel Castillejo is additionally suspended for that coordinate as is Hernández.

"We will be missing numerous players in the arrival leg, we will require a gigantic exhibition," Pioli said.

The two groups came into the match in the wake of disillusioning outcomes in Serie A. Juventus lost to Hellas Verona, permitting it to be gotten at the highest point of the table by Inter Milan, which retaliated from 2-0 down to beat Milan in the derby.

Milan was exuberant from the beginning and had two possibilities in the opening two minutes, with Franck Kessié terminating barely wide minutes after Ibrahimović had headed over the bar.

Juventus seemed drowsy and needed to sit tight until the 36th moment for its initially shot on target. Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma couldn't keep hold of Juan Cuadrado's shot yet Kessié cleared the peril.

Ibrahimović again went close on the hour yet Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tipped the Swede's exertion round the post.

Milan broke the stop two minutes after the fact. Samuel Castillejo contributed a cross that was most likely implied for Ibrahimović, however it went over him and Rebic scraped it into the base left corner.

Milan went down to 10 men not long after when Hernández was demonstrated a subsequent yellow card for a foul on Paulo Dybala.

Furthermore, more awful was to come as Ronaldo's scissor-kick volley hit Calabria on the arm from point-clear range and the ref granted a punishment in the wake of checking on the episode on the pitchside screen.

Ronaldo kept his cool to change over. The Juventus forward has scored in 13 of his previous 14 matches in all rivalries.

"He is a fantastic victor, playing with him is one reason I returned," said Buffon, who came back to Juventus in the offseason following a year at PSG.

Buffon left San Siro with Daniel Maldini's shirt which had been given to him by the youthful midfielder's dad, Paolo Maldini — who Buffon played against on numerous an event and was colleagues with on the Italian national group.

The 42-year-old Buffon is getting used to playing against the children of previous adversaries.

"In my assortment I have (Enrico) Chiesa and child, (Lilian) Thuram and child, (George) Weah and child, and now Maldini and child. I'm sitting tight for their grandkids," Buffon said with a grin.

Napoli plays Inter in the other elimination round. It won Wednesday's first leg 1-0 at San Siro and hosts the arrival coordinate on March 5.


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