Ten seconds into the second half, Federico Chiesa broke the deadlock with a stunning strike and that proved to be the winner.
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Federico Chiesa’s second half goal helped Juventus to a 1-0 win over defending champions Chelsea in the Champions League group stage fixture in Turin on Wednesday. After a cagey first half, Chiesa broke the deadlock early in the second. Although Chelsea had the bulk share of ball possession they struggled to create clear-cut-chances, registering just one shot on target. In another match, Bayern Munich thrashed Dynamo Kyiv 5-0 courtesy of a brace from Robert Lewandowski and goals from Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Eric Maxim Choupu-Moting.
The best chance of the opening 45 minutes fell to Chiesa after Kovacic had given away the ball to the 23-year-old in the middle of the park. The Italian winger raced forward before flashing his finish across goal. He should have done better as it was a one-on-one situation and Federico Bernardeschi had also arrived for support. On the half-hour-mark, Rabiot’s long ranger went over the crossbar.
Ten seconds into the second half, Bernardeschi played the ball to release Chiesa inside the box and the Italian rifled the ball into the top of the net to take the lead. The hosts had a very good chance to extend the lead as Rabiot played a precise diagonal ball to Juan Cuadrado who set up Bernardeschi with a nicely cushioned pass but the 27-year-old striker bundled his chance wide.
Substitute Ross Barkley created Chelsea’s best chance of the match as he released Romelu Lukaku with a brilliant through ball. But the Belgian fired his shot over the crossbar. The 28-year-old striker who rejoined The Blues this summer had a below-par game by his standards. Thomas Tuchel’s side tried hard for the equalizer but Ben Chilwell’s corner kick was headed over the bar by Kai Havertz.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side had a poor start to their domestic campaign, winning their first Serie A game of the season at the fifth attempt at the weekend, beating Spezia 3-2. Meanwhile the European campaign has started on a brighter note winning the first two games.
The win helped Juventus to top of Group H with six points from two games, whereas Chelsea are placed second with three points.
Thomas Tuchel told BT Sport: “I think we started not sharp enough. We struggled to create our own rhythm and intensity because they were so deep and passive. We were lacking runs. We were so good in training yesterday and not good enough, not free enough today. I don’t know why.
“I felt we were a bit slow and tired, mentally slow, decision-making. That’s why it’s a strange one to analyse.
“A shooting problem. If we don’t shoot, they cannot be on target. If you play against a deep block like today, it’s hard to take shots. We found the spaces, it wasn’t easy. We had a lot of shots, but I think there are some chances late in the game where it wouldn’t have been so hard to find the target. I was liking the aggression we had yesterday.”
Massimiliano Allegri said: “Sailors always find the way out of a storm. Tonight was a good game against the European champions.
“Technically we could have played better but we suffered a bit and we missed a couple of counter-attacks. Two games, six points, zero goals conceded, another step towards qualification, a good step forward.”
