Adrien Rabiot and Angel Di Maria stole the show as Juventus picked up their first win in Champions League Group H with a 3-1 success over Maccabi Haifa.
The former bagged a brace at the Allianz Stadium alongside Dusan Vlahovic's strike to hand the Old Lady all three points, with the effervescent Di Maria bagging a hat-trick of assists on the night, as Dean David's strike for the visitors proved to be nothing more than a consolation.
Massimiliano Allegri's side unsurprisingly dominated the ball in the opening exchanges of the contest, albeit without the desired breakthrough, but it finally arrived in the 35th minute through an unlikely source.
A neat give-and-go between Rabiot and Di Maria ended with the latter playing an inch-perfect through ball to the French midfielder, who found himself in acres of space in the box and lashed home a powerful effort into the roof of the net.
The Israeli visitors had seen some sights of goal before the half-time whistle blew in Turin, but it was Juventus who got the all-important second goal five minutes into the second half, with Di Maria once again the provider for Vlahovic for the Serbian to coolly slot home after a rapid counter-attack.
Dusan Vlahovic thanking Angel Di Maria for the assist 😄 pic.twitter.com/qLNf1pcZ3x
— GOAL (@goal) October 5, 2022
Vlahovic was then denied a second by the offside flag as Juventus continued to provide a threat on the counter, but Maccabi Haifa were not giving up the ghost and got their reward with 15 minutes remaining, as David – who had only come off the bench two minutes before – latched onto Tjaronn Chery's through ball to reduce the deficit.
However, any hopes of a shock result at the Allianz Stadium were quickly dashed for the visitors, as Rabiot added a second for himself in the 83rd minute with a header from Di Maria's third assist of the evening.
There were no more goals to be had as Juventus finally claimed their first three points in European competition this season, but a place in the top two is still out of sight after Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica moved onto seven points apiece with their 1-1 draw.
Meanwhile, Maccabi Haifa remain bottom of the section without a single point to their name as they prepare to welcome Juve to the Sammy Ofer Stadium for next Tuesday's return fixture.
Ben Knapton
