BEVERLY HILLS, October 20, (THEWILL) – Juventus forward Alvaro Morata scored a second-half brace to secure a comfortable 2-0 victory at Dynamo Kiev to hand Andrea Pirlo a debut UEFA Champions League win.
In facing Dynamo, Pirlo was going up against the coach who gave him his professional debut in 1995 as a player at Brescia, Dynamo coach Mircea Lucescu.
Ronaldo is still self-isolating after returning a positive test for COVID-19. He was not entirely missed and his influence was not required as Ramsey played a significant role in helping Juve dictate matters.
The former Arsenal midfielder provided three key passes, including a critical one for Kulusevski in the lead-up to the opening goal.
The Italian footballing giants, who have made a stuttering start to life under the legendary former midfielder in the domestic defense of their title and sit four points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan after four games, showed nothing of that in this game.
In fact, in their last game, they shared the spoils with Crotone in a 1-1 draw that lacked the quality of football they are associated with. It did nothing to lift the spirits of the fans nor inspire them with confidence going into the initial fixtures in the group stages of the UCL.
However, from kick-off and away to Dynamo, there was rarely any sign of a slip-up in this Group G opener. The Bianconeri, still without Cristiano Ronaldo, found little resistance from their hosts.
Spanish centre forward Morata, who scored at the weekend, won the three points for Juve with a simple finish in the opening minute of the second half and a header six minutes from time. In fact, the only blot on Juve’s performance was an 18th minute injury to captain Giorgio Chiellini.
Federico Chiesa, red-carded in the draw with Crotone, was Juve’s most dangerous player throughout the first half. The Italian centre forward’s arrowing strike drew Ukrainian keeper Georgi Bushchan into an impressive diving save in the 12th minute.
The Dynamo keeper however misjudged a corner soon after, unintentionally carving out a chance for Chiellini but the centre back was unable to take advantage, drifting his header wide of the unguarded net.
That was his last remarkable involvement for the day as Chiellini’s evening was brought to a premature end when he limped off the pitch to be replaced by Turkish defender Merih Demiral. To the credit of Pirlo’s charges, Juve’s rhythm was unaffected by that setback.
The Ukrainian side owe going into the break at par with Juve entirely to Bushchan. He acted quick to keep out the Swede Dejan Kulusevski’s flicked close-range finish after good work from Aaron Ramsey 11 minutes before the interval.
Those two Juve players will combine again for Juve’s and Morata’s first goal 49 seconds into the second half. The former Real Madrid forward tapped in from point-blank range after Bushchan failed to handle Kulusevski’s effort following neat build-up play from Ramsey.
Dynamo did attack with more energy in the closing stages but a scarcely deserved equaliser was not forthcoming. Then, Morata made the game safe with a clean header from Colombian Juan Cuadrado’s right-wing cross. The match was over soon after.
Lucescu, with this match, became the oldest coach to take charge of a match in this competition, aged 75 years and 83 days. Despite all that experience his side never looked like causing an upset. It does not bode well for them with Barcelona sure to provide sterner European opposition next week.
Juve return to Serie A action in a home game against Hellas Verona while Dynamo host Oleksandriya in the Ukrainian Premier League.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
