Juventus make light work of Manchester United to consolidate Group H lead

Published on: 23 October 2018

Following a gap of over 15 years, Manchester United welcomed Juventus to Old Trafford and succumbed to a 1-0 defeat by a dominant Bianconeri side.

A first half strike by Paulo Dybala was enough to cement Juventus’ lead atop Group H, with the Bianconeri now five points clear of United.

Such was the extent of Juventus’ dominance, they had over 60 percent possession against the home side, who themselves were only able to muster two shots on target.

Juventus took the game to Manchester United and had the home site pinned into their own half for the opening 10 minutes, though were unable to create any chances of note.

The first reasonable opportunity came the way of Dybala who got on the end of a Juan Cuadrado cross, but his header was well off target.

At the other end, United did threaten, though a tame Paul Pogba header was easily saved by Wojciech Szczesny. By this point, Juventus had asserted their dominance over United, and had 71 percent possession midway through the first half.

That supremacy came to fruition as Cristiano Ronaldo crossed to the near post for Cuadrado, but the ball came off Chris Smalling and fell to Dybala to tap in from close range.

Moments later David De Gea had to be alert as Joao Cancelo raced into the penalty area, after a one-two with Ronaldo, and thundered a shot at gol.

Then, a Ronaldo freekick was saved by De Gea, then the rebound from Blaise Matuidi forced another good save from the Spaniard.

After the break, Cuadrado found space on the right and up back to Ronaldo on the edge of the penalty area, but De Gea tipped the ball over the bar.

United did have a bit more of the ball, but were unable to create anything of note, though Paul Pogba did his the post with a brilliant effort from just outside the area.

A Long shot from Anthony Martial was a close as United got in the closing stages but, there was no real trouble for Szczesny or Juve.

ALL TOO EASY

Most people would have expected Manchester United to put up something of a fight at Old Trafford, in what should have been Juventus’ toughest match of the group. In reality it was nothing of the sort. Juve dominated possession, and allowed their opponents very little chances, if any at all. Mourinho called them one of the Champions League favourites and on this showing they definitely are.

Source: forzaitalianfootball.com

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Learn more