Serie A Week 8 - 1/11/03 (20.30)
Milan 1 - 1 Juventus
Tomasson 66 (M), Di Vaio 84 (J)
San Siro
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A stunning Marco Di Vaio strike cancelled out Jon Dahl Tomasson's goal as Milan and Juve remain locked at the top.
These two teams fought for the Champions' League and Italian Supercup over the last few months, but now find themselves battling for the top of the Serie A table. Joint leaders going into this game, both clubs had scored in every single round and were unbeaten.
There were injury worries for both outfits, as Alessandro Del Piero and Pippo Inzaghi did not even make the bench. Andriy Shevchenko has a good record of scoring against the Bianconeri, while Pavel Nedved had the opportunity of facing Milan after missing the Champions' League Final due to a ban.
Manuel Rui Costa was given the nod ahead of Kaka', while Serginho retained his left-back position. Bizarrely, the kick-off was delayed by ten minutes due to a traffic jam outside the Stadium that caught the Juventus team bus.
Juventus had the first shot on goal after four minutes with a fierce Nedved piledriver palmed out for a corner kick. Marco Di Vaio then failed to take full advantage of a defensive error, while Serginho's brave intervention prevented David Trezeguet taking a free header.
Milan slowly gained more of a grip on the game after a strong Juve start and Gianluigi Buffon controlled a Gennaro Gattuso drive from almost 30 metres, then the Italian Number 1 punched a dangerous ball off Shevchenko's head.
The tension was high between these old rivals and a scuffle broke out between Dario Simic and Trezeguet with an apparent elbow from the Frenchman.
Another more determined fight exploded before the break when Milan carried on playing despite the fact Nedved was on the ground at the other end of the field. At least ten players were involved in the brawl and Buffon was forced to hold a livid Maldini back.
Shevchenko skipped past Paolo Montero and placed a slide-rule pass in to the centre, but Stephan Appiah was able to clear before a teammate could pounce.
Despite the tension, the first yellow card fell to Gianluca Zambrotta for a foul from behind on Serginho on 50 minutes.
The Rossoneri went close when a Serginho cross was fingertipped off Shevchenko's head from close range.
The strain on the field rose further when Shevcheko hit the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for a very tight offside decision.
Moments later Montero was forced into a desperate challenge on Gattuso as he strode into the six-yard box.
But Juventus went even closer to an opening goal on 56 minutes when Di Vaio volleyed a deflected Camoranesi cross on to the near post with Dida beaten.
The Brazilian goalkeeper then performed a great reaction save to palm away Trezeguet's shot from eight yards.
Milan fought back immediately and a Serginho cross caused havoc with Shevchenko and Rui Costa unable to get a solid touch on it.
A clearly unhappy Clarence Seedorf was substituted by Massimo Ambrosini.
Mere seconds later Milan took the lead through Jon Dahl Tomasson. The Juve defence tried to play the offside trap on a corner kick, but failed to notice Pirlo's through ball to the unmarked Tomasson from nine yards. Replays suggest that Camoranesi was the man keeping his opponents onside.
The Dane, who was only on the field due to Inzaghi's thigh injury, also netted in last week's 3-0 win over Sampdoria.
Juve poured forward in search of an equaliser and Di Vaio thought he had it with a free header at the back post, but Dida performed one of the best saves of his career to palm it out.
Marcello Lippi threw on Fabrizio Miccoli, while Milan turned to a 4-4-2 with Serginho in his habitual more advanced position and Kaka' partnering Shevchenko upfront.
Juventus found their equaliser and it was well worth the wait. Di Vaio unleashed a simply unstoppable volley from 20 metres that slotted into the top corner beyond Dida's outstretched hand. There was also some fine set-up work by Trezeguet to lift the ball up for the ex-Parma player's left foot.
There was bad news in the final minutes for both teams. Serginho and Enzo Maresca seemed to sprain ankles during awkward falls, but the Juventus midfielder appeared to have the worst injury.
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Milan: Dida; Simic, Maldini, Nesta, Serginho; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Ambrosini 64); Rui Costa (Kaka' 77); Tomasson (Pancaro 74), Shevchenko
Juventus: Buffon; Thuram, Legrottaglie, Montero, Zambrotta; Camoranesi (Miccoli 74), Tacchinardi (Maresca 81), Appiah; Nedved (Iuliano 86); Di Vaio, Trezeguet
Ref: Racalbuto