DOHA: AC Milan lifted the Italian Super Cup after 17-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s save from Paulo Dybala secured a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Juventus on Friday.

Giorgio Chiellini scored for Juve in the 18th-minute but Giacomo Bonaventura headed Milan level seven minutes before the break to leave a free-flowing match level at 1-1 after extra-time.

Gianluca Lapadula’s first penalty for Milan was saved by Gianluigi Buffon.

Mario Mandzukic then fired a Juve effort against the crossbar before Donnarumma produced a superb one-handed save to stop their fifth attempt from Dybala.

That left Mario Pasalic to convert the winner with ease as Milan celebrated wildly after winning their first trophy since 2011 and equalling the Turin club’s record of seven super cup wins.

It was the ninth time the competition had been played outside of Italy and Juve were strong favorites.

It is the second time Milan have beaten Juve, who lead Serie A by four points, this season.

In October, they won 1-0 in the San Siro.

A delighted Milan coach Vincenzo Montella said he hoped the victory would serve as a springboard for his side.

“I would like to think that this match is the beginning of a new era, we would like to consider it a starting point,” he said. “I am sure that this win will give us confidence.”

Donnarumma, a Milan regular, had kept Juve at bay in the previous 120 minutes while Dybala could have won the game at the end of extra-time but sent a wild effort sailing over the bar.

The teenager, first given his chance as a 16-year-old last season under Sinisa Mihajlovic and already an Italian international, was speechless.

“I cannot describe what I’m feeling and I don’t even know what was going through my head,” he told state broadcaster RAI.

The match is traditionally played between the Serie A and Italian Cup winners.

Juve, league champions for the last five seasons, won both last term so Milan, showing signs of improvement after several mediocre campaigns, qualified as cup runners-up.

Donnarumma made early saves from Stefano Sturaro and Mandzukic before Chiellini flicked home a Miralem Pjanic corner.

At that stage it was all Juve and it was not until the 36th minute that Milan had their first shot on target, a tame effort from midfielder Slovakia midfielder Juraj Kucka.

Moments later midfielder Suso found Bonaventura, who flicked the ball past Buffon.

Donnarumma made another outstanding save in the second half to turn Sami Khedira’s long-range effort over the bar.

Opposite number Buffon, 21 years his senior, was not to be outdone, brilliantly turning Carlos Bacca’s header on to the woodwork.

Juve also had their chances, most notably in extra time.

In the 111th minute Patrice Evra put the ball in the net only to be ruled offside, then Dybala spooned a shot over when unmarked from just eight yards with only four minutes remaining.

A “very angry” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said he was upset at the way his team had lost control of the game and become nervous.

“We lost on penalties but we just needed to be more lucid to win the match in extra-time,” said Allegri. “We did everything we could to avoid going to penalties. We played very well for the first half but then we dropped off too much.”

Chiellini echoed his coach.

“The first 20 minutes we played well and we had two further chances of scoring,” said the defender. “But after 20 minutes we played badly, we made many mistakes and gave too much space to Milan.”

The match, the second time the Super Cup has been played in Qatar, was watched by a near capacity crowd of 11,356.

Published in Dawn December 25th, 2016