Ronaldo ends San Siro hoodoo as Juventus beats Milan 2-0

MILAN — Cristiano Ronaldo ended his San Siro hoodoo to help Juventus to a 2-0 win after AC Milan forward Gonzalo Higuain missed a penalty against his former team on Sunday.

Higuain left Juventus in the offseason following the signing of Ronaldo and he had a nightmare game as he was also sent off seven minutes from time for dissent after being booked for a foul on Medhi Benatia.

Mario Mandzukic scored early on and Ronaldo sealed the result nine minutes from the end as Serie A leader Juventus won at Milan to restore its six-point advantage over second-placed Napoli, which beat Genoa 2-1 on Saturday.

It was Ronaldo's first goal in six matches at San Siro, having previously played at the iconic stadium for Manchester United and Real Madrid.

The Portugal forward raced to the corner flag, beckoning all his teammates over to celebrate with him.

"I'm very happy, especially for the team," said Ronaldo, who has been playing and scoring regularly despite facing a rape allegation in the United States. "We played good football, it's never easy to play at San Siro against Milan.

"We showed we're superior, I'm really happy. It's an important win, we're back six points ahead of Napoli. I also scored a goal, I'm satisfied." Milan slipped to fifth, a point behind fourth-placed Lazio, after seeing its three-match winning run in the league brought to an end.

"We played against a team which have been winning for many years and which every year signs a top player," Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso said. "Our levels are different, maybe the penalty could have changed something but I liked my team, not everything is to throw away.

"Juventus isn't just the strongest team in Italy, it's the most well-built in Europe along with Manchester City and Barcelona. We could have stayed in the match right until the end ... but I never had the feeling we were going to hurt them." Juventus was looking to bounce back from Wednesday's shock 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United and welcomed back Mandzukic from injury.

It took the Croatia forward less than eight minutes to break the deadlock, running in at the back post to head in Alex Sandro's cross from the left.