UCL: Juventus pip United on Ronaldo's return, City dominant in Ukraine

UCL: Juventus pip United on Ronaldo’s return, City dominant in Ukraine

October 24

07:30 2018

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Manchester United were pipped 0-1 at Old Trafford by Italian champions, Juventus, thanks to Paulo Dybala’s goal.

On his return to Old Trafford where he became a mean machine under Sir Alex Ferguson’s tutelage, Ronaldo was given a hero’s welcome by the fans but provided the cross which put Jose Mourinho’s team to the sword.

Juventus took the lead on 17 minutes when Ronaldo’s cross, poorly cleared by Chris Smalling, landed nicely at Paulo Dybala’s feet and the Argentine player slotted in from eight yards to give the Old Lady of Turin a 1-0 lead.

The Turin giants continued to dominate the game and should have been out of sight but chances from Joao Cancelo and Rodrigo Bentancur could not get past De Gea. The Spanish first choice keeper had to pull off a brilliant double save four minutes from halftime. The 27-year-old stopped Cristiano Ronaldo’s 30-yard free kick and denied Blaise Matuidi from the follow-up as the half ended with Jose Mourinho’s team being played off the park at Old Trafford.

The second half continued where the first ended, Cristiano Ronaldo drawing another top class save from De Gea from an acute angle after being picked out by Caudrado’s return pass.

It took United until the 63rd minute to create their first real chance, a weak Lukaku header from Juan Mata’s cross. Paul Pogba, silent for most of the game, nearly snatched an equaliser for the Red Devils but his 30-yard strike hit the woodwork and bounced to safety off Juve ‘keeper, Wojciech Szczesny’s head. Both sides had chances for a goal but the game would end without another, and Maximiliano Allegri’s Juventus kept their 100 percent European record with a 1-0 win.

In other matches, Real Madrid snapped a five-game winless run, which included three straight defeats, with a narrow 2-1 winner over Czech Republic league champions, Viktoria Plzen, at the Santiago Bernabeu. Los Merengues broke the deadlock on 11 minutes through Karim Benzema.

The defending champions doubled their lead early in the second half through Marcelo. Plzen’s Patrik Hrosovsky halved the deficit to 2-1 when he stole in behind Real’s static defence, much to the consternation of the home fans. Julen Lopetegui’s men, however, held on for a first win in six games.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City produced a totally dominant display to dispatch Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 in their backyard. It took 10 clear-cut chances before Man City broke the deadlock on 30 minutes through David Silva.

Silva turned provider four minutes later as his corner kick was nodded in by young centre-back, Aymeric Laporte, to make it 2-0.

Substitute, Bernardo Silva, made it three goals, seconds after coming on, waltzing through Shakhtar’s defence before finishing off the base of the post.

In Greece, Bayern Munich won 2-0 against AEK Athens, thanks to tap-in goals from Javi Martinez and prolific striker, Robert Lewandowski. New Bayern coach, Robert Kovac, and his players have been under scrutiny in recent weeks following below-par performances, and they could not break down the Greek champions until after an hour when Spaniard, Martinez, bundled in on the line following a ricochet from Arjen Robben’s shot.