A second half goal by Carlos Tevez was enough to maintain Juventus’ perfect start to the Serie A season in the duel against AC Milan at the San Siro on Saturday.

Milan and Juventus went into their encounter with two wins from two matches but it was Juventus that dominated proceedings in what was manager Massimo Allegri’s return to the club that sacked him in January.

The opening half finished goalless though Milan could have broke the deadlock midway through the half, only for Juve goalkeeper Gigi Buffon to keep out Keisuke Honda’s close range header off Sulley Muntari’s ball in.

That prompted a siege on the Milan goal as Roberto Pereyra and Fernando Llorente were denied by Milan keeper Cristian Abbiati while Claudio Marchisio came closest to giving Juventus the lead when his effort struck the post just before half-time.

The trend continued in the second half as the visitors remained on top but failed to find a breakthrough, with Marchisio shooting wide when he should have scored after being set up at the near post by Pereyra.

Juve’s frustrations would finally be doused in the 71st minute when Carlos Tevez latched on to a through ball by Paul Pogba to put the visitors in front, a lead that was maintained despite Milan manager Filippo Inzaghi bringing on three forwards – including Fernando Torres for his Milan debut – to try salvage a result.

The win ensured Juve regained top spot from Milan with nine points and no goals conceded after three matches, though Roma could go top on Sunday if it wins by two goals or more at home to Cagliari on Sunday.