Milan began brightly in this battle between two northern Italian powerhouses, and almost broke the deadlock in brilliant fashion when Rafael Leao expertly picked out Olivier Giroud, whose first-time strike was superbly kept out by Wojciech Szczesny.
The Bianconeri, though, looked threatening on the break, with Filip Kostic their key counterattacking outlet down the left flank. The Serbian created a chance for Timothy Weah, before threading in a perfectly-weighted pass for Adrien Rabiot to take into his stride ahead of flashing a strike just wide of the far post.
Drama ensued as the first half came to a close, with Malick Thiaw shown a straight red card for hauling down Moise Kean and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Stefano Pioli sought a defensive reinforcement, and Christian Pulisic was withdrawn for Pierre Kalulu. Kean should have rubbed salt into Milan’s gaping wounds seconds later, but fired wide at the far post from Rabiot’s tantalising delivery.
Despite their one-man disadvantage, it was the Rossoneri who showed more attacking intent initially after the restart. Massimiliano Allegri responded by replacing Kostic and Kean with Andrea Cambiaso and Dusan Vlahovic - the latter making his return from a back injury.
However, it was Locatelli who took centre stage with a long-range effort which took a hefty deflection off Rade Krunic before flying past Antonio Mirante. It was the visitors’ first shot on target of the match, with Mirante a mere spectator up to that point.
The goal clearly kicked the stuffing out of Pioli’s men, who had lost their attacking verve, and Vlahovic came close to doubling Juve’s lead with a speculative attempt that was tipped over by Mirante.
As Allegri’s side inched towards a memorable victory, the Bianconeri boss would have been concerned to see Weah forced off with an apparent ankle injury in the last 10 minutes.
Nevertheless, it was a fine night’s work for Juve in Italy’s second city, with the result ending a five-match winless run against their Serie A rivals and adding fresh impetus to their Scudetto challenge.
Meanwhile, the loss ends a 12-match unbeaten home run in Serie A for the Rossoneri, who missed out on the chance to leapfrog Inter Milan into top spot.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Manuel Locatelli (Juventus)
