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Tottenham battle back to earn 2-2 draw at Juventus

NAN-S-24
Draw
Turin (Italy), Feb. 13, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Tottenham Hotspur recovered from conceding twice in the opening nine minutes to secure a 2-2 draw away to Juventus in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 tie.

Gonzalo Higuain struck for Juve on Tuesday after two minutes and again from the penalty kick spot after nine minutes as Tottenham were rocked, but the visitors responded in impressive fashion.

Harry Kane fired home in the 35th minute to halve the deficit before Higuain wasted the chance to score a hat-trick.

The Argentine’s penalty kick on the stroke of halftime hit the crossbar.

On the other hand, Kane’s strike was the first goal Juventus have conceded in 2018.

Tottenham were rewarded for their endeavour when Christian Eriksen’s free-kick levelled it up in the 71st minute.

It means that the Londoners will fancy their chances of knocking out last year’s runners-up in next month’s second leg at Wembley.

Tottenham arrived full of confidence after winning their group containing last year’s winners Real Madrid, but they suffered a dreadful opening 10 minutes.

Juventus, unbeaten in their previous 26 home matches in Europe, took the lead after two minutes.

A clever free-kick by Miralem Pjanic picked out Higuain who swivelled to volley right-footed past Hugo Lloris.

Tottenham had barely put two passes together when they fell further behind seven minutes later from the penalty kick spot.

Ben Davies was caught napping and his clumsy foul on Federico Bernardeschi gave the referee an easy decision to point to the penalty kick spot.

Higuain duly converted in spite of Lloris guessing the right way and getting a touch on the ball.

The rest of the half belonged to the visitors as they shrugged of the double blow to dominate possession.

With Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembele pulling the strings for Tottenham in midfield.

Juve retreated and they were indebted to veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon for two fine saves to deny in-form striker Kane.

There was nothing he could do though when Dele Alli picked out Kane in the 35th minute and the England striker drifted past the goalkeeper before coolly sliding home.

Tottenham had a huge let-off on the stroke of half-time when they were caught on the counter-attack and Douglas Costa enticed Serge Aurier into a desperate lunge to concede another penalty.

Higuain took the ball but rather than celebrate a first-half hat-trick his penalty kick rattled against the crossbar.

Juventus played more like the away side in the second half with Tottenham again pressing.

The hosts however went close with Lloris saving well from Bernardeschi and Mario Mandzukic then heading straight at the French goalkeeper.

Eriksen, arguably the best player on the pitch, levelled for Tottenham in the 71st minute when his low free-kick deceived Buffon and nestled in the corner.(Reuters/NAN)
KIA/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Juventus beat Barca 3-0 to take control of quarter-final tie

NAN-S-25
Juventus
By Victor Okoye
Abuja, April 11, 2017 (NAN) Paulo Dybala scored twice as Juventus took charge of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie with FC Barcelona, courtesy of a commanding 3-0 home-leg display in Turin on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Argentine forward curled home both of his goals before the break, the first from an angle inside the box and the second from a central position on the edge.

Juve turned a dominant lead into one that should see them go on and win the tie when Giorgio Chiellini showed strength and guile to steer home a header from a corner kick.

For the second European round running, Barca —- who were as defensively suspect as they were in losing 4-0 to Paris St-Germain in the first leg of their last-16 tie —- must come back from a heavy away defeat to progress.

However, after their record-breaking achievement to overturn a four-goal deficit against PSG, they will retain hope heading into the return leg at the Nou Camp.

The last time these two sides met in the Champions League was in the 2015 final, when FC Barcelona secured the trophy courtesy of a 3-1 win.

The Italians are a much-changed side, with only goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Leonardo Bonucci starting both the game in Berlin and Tuesday’s in Turin, but they played like a side with a score to settle.

The opening 20 minutes were a lesson in high-pressing, aggressive play that created a clear-headed opening for Gonzalo Higuain to spurn before paying off through Dybala’s two strikes.

The remaining 70 minutes saw Juve retain a high work-rate but with the luxury of strategically selecting their moments to counter attack.

This approach twice set up Higuain for shots that were saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen before more lax defending —- this time from Javier Mascherano, who had been moved to centre-back from midfield at half-time —- allowed Chiellini to head home from a corner kick.

The win means Juve, who have won their last 32 Serie A home games, are now undefeated in 18 European games in Turin.

With the second-best defence of any side in Europe’s top-five leagues and having gone 441 Champions League minutes without conceding, the Italians are well-equipped to avoid wilting under second-leg pressure in Spain.

After another heavy away defeat — their third in four Champions League games on the road and a second in succession after Saturday’s La Liga loss at Malaga — there is no escaping the feeling that this is a team in decline. (NAN)
VO/OLAL
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)