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Juventus logo
Champions League | Group Stage
Nov 25, 2015 at 7.45pm UK
 
Manchester City logo

1-0

Mandzukic (18')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Match Analysis: Juventus 1-0 Manchester City

Sports Mole takes a closer look at the Champions League meeting between Juventus and Manchester City in Turin.

Juventus have sealed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League by claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Manchester City.

Fernandinho blazed over the bar from close range for the visitors, before Mario Mandzukic turned in a cross from Alex Sandro to give the Bianconeri the lead.

Sergio Aguero and Fernando were then denied by Gianluigi Buffon and Raheem Sterling fired wide late on as City slipped to their second defeat in the group stage.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the events that unfolded in Turin.

Match statistics

JUVENTUS
Shots: 13
On target: 5
Possession: 41%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 11

MANCHESTER CITY
Shots: 13
On target: 2
Possession: 59%
Corners: 8
Fouls: 12

Was the result fair?

City will feel that they did enough to earn at least a point from the match after creating plenty of chances, but they lacked a real cutting edge in the final third. The difference between the teams proved to be Mandzukic's well-taken effort in the first half, and a combination of poor finishing and fine goalkeeping down both ends ensured that there would be no further goals.

Juventus's performance

The Old Lady are well known for grinding out important results when it matters most and they did exactly that this evening. They showed glimpses of the quality that they have at their disposal and took their chance when it came their way. It was not the best performance that Massimiliano Allegri's side have produced this season and they gave City a lot of space to exploit inside their own half, but the victory has moved moved them to the top of their group ahead of their final match against Sevilla next month.

Manchester City's performance

Manuel Pellegrini will have been hoping for a response from his team after their 4-1 defeat against Liverpool at the weekend, and they showed far more resolve against the Italian champions. They took the game to Juventus and had an early chance to go ahead through Fernandinho, but the Brazilian skied high over the bar, and within minutes the hosts were in front. The Citizens pushed hard for an equaliser, but they were unable to make the most of their openings as their night ended on a losing note.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Alex Sandro: The Brazilian has found playing time hard to come by since his move from Porto in the summer, but he did his chances of a regular place in the starting lineup no harm this evening. He was instrumental in the winning goal for Juventus, as his fine cross was tucked home by Mandzukic, while he looked a constant threat going forward down the left wing throughout the game.

Biggest gaffe

Claudio Marchisio was guilty of a huge mistake at the end of the first half as his poor back pass allowed Aguero to race clean through on goal. However, Buffon was quickly off his line to make a fine block from the striker and bail out his colleague at the same time.

Referee performance

Felix Brych was not given too many problems in the centre of the pitch this evening, and was forced into handing out just three yellow cards, all to City players for straightforward bookable offences. He allowed the game to flow as much as he could, but the second half was littered with a number of fouls from both sets of players.

What next?

Juventus: The Bianconeri are back in league action on Sunday evening with a trip to Sicily to face Palermo.

Manchester City: City will attempt to recover from tonight's defeat when they host Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

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Alex Meyers
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Kevin de Bruyne of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's first goal with his team mate Sergio Aguero during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on September 19, 2015
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