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Manchester City 1-2 Juventus

Scorers – Chiellini og 57 (M), Mandzukic 70 (J), Morata 81 (J)


Champions League Game 1 –  Tuesday, 15th September – 19:45 GMT – Etihad Stadium

Juventus fought back from a goal down to beat Manc City 2-1 with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Alvaro Morata

Bianconeri boss Max Allegri threw caution to the wind and opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Juan Cuadrado and Alvaro Morata flanking Mario Mandzukic. City, meanwhile, were without injured striker Sergio Aguero so Wilfried Bony started up front with Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Samir Nasri playing just behind in a midfield three.

Stefano Sturaro gave the ball away just 90 seconds into the match but Gigi Buffon was on hand to deny Raheem Sterling at his near post.

Paul Pogba started brightly and had the ball in the back of the net but Morata was deemed to be interfering with play and in an offside position.

Hernanes started in place of Marchisio and his free kick was just inches wide of Hart’s far post while Aleksandar Kolarov then Cuadrado ahd shots off target from distance.

Kolarovcut back a great ball from the left but Giorgio Chiellini did brilliantly to deny Bony from tapping in just outside Buffon’s goal.

Juve delivered a promosing first half performance but it was City who took the lead early in the second. Vincent Kompany held down Chiellini, leaning on the Juve man’s shoulders as the ball bounced off the defender for an own-goal.

City looked to capitalise and it was almost 2-0 but for a remarkable on-handed double save from Buffon, first on Sterling’s drive then to palm aways Silva’s follow-up effort.

Hart performed a great save of his own to deny Sturaro from close-range before Juve eventually made the pressure tell. Pogba delivered a perfect overhead cross for Mandzukic to volley home from yards out.

The Croatian striker made way for Paulo Dybala and Juve turned the game around just moments later. Juan Cuadrado played a quick assist for Morata who cut past two defenders to curl his left foot effort around Hart and in off the far post.


 

 5 Points:

1. Cuadrado looks the real deal again – Inventive in attack, solid in his defensive duties, a versatile player that could do wonders for us this season

2. 4-3-3 offers a lot more than 4-3-1-2. Juve looked like they had pace and fluidity for the first time in a while

3. Sturaro needs time – His first half showing was dismal but the second half was immense. Combative and creative in midfield, he could grow into a hell of a player

4. Mandzukic needs service – Feed him and he’ll score, simple as

5. Buffon is going to save us again and again this season, like the season before, and the season before, and the season before….


 Statistics:

foot12Man of the Match: Alvaro Morata

foot13  Flop of the Match: N/A

foot14  Corners: 1

foot05  Pass Accuracy: 81%

foot00  Shots on Target: 3

foot07  Total Shots: 10

foot01  Ball Possession: 41%

foot08  Formation:  4-3-3


 Formation:

 


Lineups:

Manchester City: Hart; Sagna, Kompany (Otamendi 74), Mangala, Kolarov; Toure, Fernandinho; Nasri (Aguero 84), Silva, Sterling (De Bruyne 71); Bony

Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Sturaro, Hernanes, Pogba; Cuadrado, Mandzukic (Dybala 78), Morata (Barzagli 85)

Ref: Skomina (SLV)

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Media:

Claudio Marchisio on his Instagram & Twitter Pages

 Morata and Dybala celebrate

Buffons superb double save



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