Zenit dreams of knockouts all but extinguished by Dybala and Chiesa magic

Juventus 4-2 Zenit St. Petersburg
UEFA Champions League Group H
Tuesday 2 November, Juventus Stadium

Goals: Juventus - Dybala 11’, pen 58’, Chiesa 73’, Morata 82’; Zenit - Bonucci (OG) 26’, Azmoun 90+2’

Juventus began the game unsurprisingly on the front foot, forcing solid saves from Stanislav Kritsyuk and Paolo Dybala slamming the inside of the post within the opening 10 minutes - but they didn’t have to wait long to take the lead.

A corner was headed clear to the Argentine forward to slam a half-volley into the far corner. 

Zenit heads didn’t drop though. Wilmar Barrios was a man possessed driving forward many attacks, but the equalizer came from an unlikely source. Vyacheslav Karavaev drove forward with limited options on the left flank, before cutting inside and whipping an inswinging cross into the box. Leonardo Bonucci met it first, but could only divert it onwards looping into the far corner.

Containing Dybala remained tricky though, and once again he was the man to put Juventus in front. Federico Chiesa ghosted into the penalty area and was slightly clipped by Claudinho to earn a penalty. 

Dybala dragged his spot kick wide of the right hand post but was granted a reprieve as the referee spotted Dejan Lovren encroaching. This time, his penalty was inch-perfect, arrowing inside the same post he had aimed for the first time.

Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny couldn’t rest on his laurels, forced into some full-stretch saves midway through the second half, including one dangerous effort from substitute Malcom.

The game was opening up with counter-attacks at both ends, one leading to Weston McKennie striking the underside of the crossbar, but with 17 minutes remaining Chiesa twisted Lovren inside out before lashing a firm finish across Kritsyuk into the far corner for a fine finish. Moments later the Italian forward again beat his marker and clipped a goalbound effort past Kritsyuk, but Dmitry Chistyakov was on hand to slide it clear off the line.

With less than eight minutes left of normal time, a catastrophic error from Danil Krugovoy attempting to chest down a ball gifted the hosts a clear opening to see Alvaro Morata clean through to slide in a fourth and completely kill off any lingering hope of a dramatic late comeback.

Zenit’s night was summed up by a glorious missed opportunity to grab a goal back with three minutes left. Chistyakov - who had been a presence in the opposition box and a few occasions - missed a simple tap-in header from three yards out.

Deep into added time, Sardar Azmoun did add a well-deserved consolation after Artem Dzyuba’s knock-down header opened up space for his Iranian strike partner to steady himself and poke home from a few yards out.

Juventus remain top on 12 points, while Zenit stay third on three points.

Next Champions League fixtures: Tuesday 23 November - Chelsea vs Juventus; Malmo vs Zenit