A highly-contentions 97th minute penalty from Paulo Dybala sealed the Juventus-AC Milan game at the Juventus Stadium on Friday night, with the Old Lady trumping their arch-rivals 2-1 in a hotly contested game which saw the visitors play the closing stages with a man less.

With defender Giorgio Chiellini injured, Juve manager Massmiliano Allegri was forced to reshuffle his starting XI somewhat, with Mehdi Benatia slotting in the centre of defence to replace the Italian.
To complicate matters somewhat, winger Juan Cuadrado was suspended for the tie, so full-back Dani Alves was pushed up to support the likes of Dybala, Marko Pjaca and Gonzalo Higuain in attack.

Milan made a few changes of their own, as Vincenzo Montella opted to start Lucas Ocampos in place of Suso on the left wing to support the in-form Carlos Barca and mercurial Gerald Deulofeu.

And as expected, the home side dominated proceedings with Dybala at the heart of almost every move, but Milan’s young goalkeeper Gianlugi Donnarumma was proving hard to beat. In fact, Milan were fortunate not to concede an early penalty when centre back Christian Zapata’s trailing leg caught Dybala in the box but the referee chose to play advantage instead of pointing to the spot.

Juve weren't to be denied for long, however, opening the scoring via an unlikely source in Benatia. In fact, the opener had saw two defenders heavily involved. Dani Alves’ left-footed flick went over the Milan defence and right into Benatia’s path, who took a touch before blasting a volley from close range in the 30th minute.

While the Bianconeri continued to dominate possession, they failed to create any clear-cut chances after that in the first half and as half-time approached, tried to push for a decisive second.
And the Rossoneri exploited the fact that Juve had so many players in their half two minutes before the interval, with a rapid counter-attack to level the tie.

Deulofeu’s searing pace on the left wing proved to be too much for the backtracking Juve defence and when he slipped in Bacca, the Colombian calmly poked home to score his fourth goal in three games. Replays suggested the forward was marginally offside, but the goal stood and the teams went in level after a pulsating 45 minutes.

Post the interval, Juve started to assert their dominance as they went in search of a second goal but Donnarumma was in inspired form.He saved Mirajlem Pjanic’s free kick without much fuss and then later Sami Khedira’s rasping shot from inside the box to keep his side in the game.

Juve winger Pjaca had a chance to win the game for the hosts but selfishly chose to shoot from a narrow angle when in fact the could have laid it off for Higuain to tap in from inside six-yards.

Milan had few chances in the second half, reduced to pot shots from distance and things started to unravel for them when Jose Sosa was sent off for a scything challenge on Kwadwo Asamoah in the 93rd minute. 

The hosts smelt blood and started to amp up the pressure and their tactics paid off when referee Davide Massa awarded them a 96th minute penalty. Stephen Lichsteiner’s cross was adjudged to have struck Mattia De Sciglio’s arm and despite vociferous protests from the visitors who claimed it was unintentional, the decision stood. 
Dybala stepped up and scored a textbook spot-kick, winning the game with virtually the last kick of the game and despite Donnarumma guessing the direction, for once the keeper could not do anything. 

Juventus stretch their lead at the top of the Serie A table to 11 points ahead of Roma, who have played a game less. While there are plenty of games left in the season, it is extremely likely the title will stay in Turin for the sixth consecutive season.

For Milan, a draw would probably have been a fair result and they remain in seventh place, seven points behind Napoli, who occupy the final Champions League spot. There are encouraging signs for Montella’s men and qualifying for the Champions League might be difficult to accomplish, they can definitely qualify for the Europa League.