Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday scored the only goal to hand Juventus their first trophy of the season with a 1-0 win over 10-man AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
AC Milan played the last 15 minutes a man down after Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie saw red for a bad tackle on Emre Can.
“I have my first title with Juventus so I’m happy,” the Portuguese star said. “I really wanted this, to get off to a good start in 2019.”
The match had been overshadowed by controversy over human rights issues in Saudi Arabia with women only allowed to attend the game if they were accompanied by a man.
Serie A president Gaetano Micciche hailed the match as a success, with reports that there were up to 15,000 women among the 62,000 crowd in the stadium.
“It was a wonderful evening, a festival of sport in a full stadium,” Micciche said. “I hope that it’s the starting point for social evolution in this country.”
On the pitch the players suffered in the heat with temperatures hitting 25°C amid freezing conditions in northern Italy.
Juventus came away with a record eighth Super Cup title, one more than AC Milan.
“It was very hot and the important thing was to win,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “Ronaldo? We always say the same thing ... that’s why we signed him. He is decisive and scores big goals, but the whole team put in a good performance.”
AC Milan forward Gonzalo Higuain only played the final 20 minutes ahead of a possible move to Chelsea, having moved away from Turin to make way for Ronaldo last summer.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso said that the Argentine had a fever and missed the team photograph because they were afraid he would infect other players.
“It might seem like a joke, but it’s true. Higuain wasn’t in the picture when the Saudi prince came to visit because I was afraid the virus would spread among the other players,” Gattuso said.
Milan’s best shot on goal was a Patrick Cutrone effort after the break with their hopes dwindling after Kessie’s sending off.
“We had to climb a mountain and we tried,” Gattuso said.
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