鈥楤eautiful 黑料社区鈥�: Tammy Abraham thanks local fans for inspiring Milan semifinal win over Juventus

England striker Tammy Abraham helped inspire AC Milan鈥檚 comeback win against Juventus in the Italian Super Cup semifinal. (AN Photo/Abdulrahman Shulhoub)
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  • AC Milan scored twice in the final 20 minutes to beat Juve 2-1 in the EA Sports FC Italian Supercup in Riyadh; face city rivals Inter in Monday鈥檚 final at Al-Awwal Park
  • 鈥業t was a beautiful atmosphere in a beautiful country. We鈥檙e so happy to be here and we can hear the fans singing the whole game鈥� 鈥� Tammy Abraham, AC Milan

RIYADH: Tammy Abraham thanked the fans at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh for inspiring AC Milan to the EA Sports FC Italian Supercup final with a comeback 2-1 win over Juventus, as he called 黑料社区 鈥渁 beautiful country.鈥�

England striker Abraham made a big impact with his forward play after coming on for the last half hour to help AC Milan overturn a 1-0 deficit and seal a spot versus city rivals Inter in Monday night鈥檚 final.

Juventus had taken the lead in the 21st minute when Kenan Yildiz thudded high past AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan at his near post after being played through by Samuel Mbangula.

The match turned on its head, however, in the final 20 minutes. Firstly, Christian Pulisic blasted home from the penalty spot, then AC Milan substitute Yunus Musah鈥檚 low cross from the right took a wicked deflection off Federico Gatti and spun into the far corner of the net.

The turnaround was first inspired and then greeted with raptures by the AC Milan fans packed into the 25,000 capacity Riyadh stadium on Friday night 鈥� and Abraham was very grateful.

Abraham said: 鈥淭hank to you everyone who came to watch the game and supported us today. It was a beautiful atmosphere in a beautiful country, a beautiful support. We鈥檙e so happy to be here and we can hear the fans singing the whole game. We鈥檙e so thankful for them supporting us.

鈥淚t鈥檚 my first time in this beautiful country and I鈥檓 so happy to be here. I knew how beautiful it was before I arrived but coming here you see more and I feel we鈥檙e very privileged to host this tournament in this country and the support, like I said, has been amazing. See you all in the final on Monday!鈥�

Abraham鈥檚 contribution from the substitutes鈥� bench delighted Sergio Conceicao in his debut as AC Milan manager. The Portuguese, who took over from compatriot Paulo Fonseca, now has the opportunity to win a trophy in just his second match in charge.

Conceicao said: 鈥淲e did many mistakes in the first half, but we changed the game in the second half. We need to be brave and believe in what we do. We changed strategy and that was a good one. I noticed strong teamwork, the players united, and I鈥檓 happy about that.鈥�

Conceicao was denied the opportunity of playing against son Francisco, the Juventus winger. Juventus manager Thiago Motta said that during the warm-up the No. 7 sustained 鈥渁 little muscular issue, and he couldn鈥檛 play.鈥�

The Juve wideman was instead replaced by Yildiz who, as well as his goal, tested Maignan with a fizzing drive in the first half from outside of the box that was palmed away by the French keeper.

AC Milan鈥檚 Theo Hernandez passed up a gilt-edged chance in the 55th minute when he spooned wide after a ricochet from a corner.

After Pulisic and the own-goal put AC Milan in front, however, the Rossoneri could have extended their lead when Michele Di Gregorio superbly saved the American鈥檚 dink following excellent work from Tammy Abraham.

The last kick of the match saw Gatti鈥檚 close-range shot deflected wide to leave Juventus defeated and AC Milan delighted.

Juventus manager Motta added: 鈥淲e did a great first half, we took control and scored. In the second half we were able to close the game, but some mistakes were crucial. We need to work every day in order to improve. I truly believe that we have the abilities to perform better. Right away in a defeat, it is hard to find something positive. We will analyze the whole performance and we will do our best to improve.鈥�

The EA Sports FC Supercup is being staged in 黑料社区 for the fifth time. AC Milan entered the competition as runners-up of last season鈥檚 Serie A, while Juventus were included as Coppa Italia winners. Serie A champions Inter Milan, the current Supercup holders and going for three trophies in a row in Riyadh, won Serie A, while Atalanta, who Inter beat 2-0 on Thursday, lost to Juve in May鈥檚 Coppa Italia final.