Morata earns Juventus victory at Manchester City
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
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Manchester City 1-2 Juventus
Juventus made light of their disappointing start to the Serie A season by coming from behind to win, Álvaro Morata scoring the decisive late goal.
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- Álvaro Morata clinches it for Juve after Mario Mandžukić's equaliser
- Giorgio Chiellini's own goal gives Manchester City the lead
- Juventus savour victory for the first time this season
- City, after five straight wins, concede their first goals of the campaign
- Next fixtures: Mönchengladbach v Man. City, Juventus v Sevilla (30 September)
Manchester City may have made a flying start domestically but they had their wings clipped by Juventus as the Bianconeri came from behind to prevail 2-1 in UEFA Champions League Group D.
The hosts have been in irresistible form so far in the Premier League and gave their fans early hope with an opportunity for Raheem Sterling. Fernandinho's pass released him on the left of the box and he just failed to squeeze his shot under Gianluigi Buffon, who then denied David Silva on the follow-up.
With Sergio Agüero only fit enough for a place on the bench, Wilfried Bony made his first UEFA Champions League start for the club and worked a clear opening for himself after nutmegging Leonardo Bonucci, only to slice his effort wide.
At the other end, Paul Pogba had the ball in the net with a stooping header flagged offside. Pogba was one of six players brought back into the Juve side by Massimiliano Allegri after their weekend draw with Chievo and the Old Lady showed all their know-how in limiting City to just one shot on target in a tight first half.
When they did make the breakthrough, it came off the head of Giorgio Chiellini. Under pressure from Vincent Kompany, the centre-back headed Silva's corner into his own net. But for Buffon's double save from Sterling and Silva, City would have had a second goal, but instead Juve stirred as an attacking force.
Joe Hart had to be alert to keep out Stefano Sturaro's close-range attempt, yet he had no chance when Pogba's angled ball picked out Mario Mandžukić, arriving behind Eliaquim Mangala at the far post to volley in.
Álvaro Morata then completed the turnaround with a brilliant, curling left-footed strike after the ball bounced off Aleksandar Kolarov and rolled his way on the edge of the box.
Key player: Álvaro Morata
A scorer in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final, Morata has had a disappointing start to the season. He was sent off against Roma 60 seconds into his first appearance of the campaign but showed his class here with a wonderful strike to snatch the points for Juve.
City fail to deliver
City captain Kompany issued a rallying cry before this match, urging the Premier League leaders – with 11 straight domestic wins to their name – to finally show the best of themselves on the European stage. Yet once again they failed to find their groove as they would have liked in a stop-start display and even with the boost of fortunate goal, were unable to capitalise.
Buffon a key figure
Juventus, of course, are the opposite case: yet to win in Serie A, they came to life under the European lights and showed all their experience, not least their veteran keeper Buffon. At 1-0 down, City looked certain to put the game out of sight when the ball rolled to Silva after Buffon had saved from Sterling; instead, the 37-year-old threw himself in the way and Juve had a lifeline that they grabbed.