Manchester City’s struggles in the Champions League continued as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Juventus at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday, in the sixth round of the competition.
Juventus secured their victory with goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie in the 53rd and 75th minutes, respectively, bringing their total to 11 points and placing them in the fourteenth position.
Following their third consecutive defeat, Manchester City remained on 8 points and slipped to twenty-second place.
Juventus created the first threat when Yildiz met a cross just outside the penalty area, but his shot missed wide to the right.
City attempted to break through, but Juventus’ defence remained resolute, cutting off most of the attacks early on.
City’s first real chance came just before halftime when Haaland latched onto a through ball, finding himself one-on-one with Juventus goalkeeper Di Gregorio. Haaland attempted to lift the ball over him, but the keeper made a brilliant save.
With little danger from either side in the closing moments of the first half, the score remained 0-0 at the break.
Gundogan nearly gave Juventus a scare right after the second half began, but his shot from the heart of the penalty area was quickly blocked by the determined Juventus defence.
Gatti connected with a cross inside the City penalty area, sending a direct shot toward the center of the goal, but Ederson was in the right position to block it.
Juventus took the lead when a cross was met by Vlahovic, who executed a perfect header. Ederson made two saves, but the referee ruled that the ball had crossed the goal line, leading to celebrations from the home team for the opening goal.
Bernardo Silva then attempted a low shot to the right of Juventus’ goalkeeper, but the defence managed to block it before it could reach the goal.
Doku made a run into the Juventus penalty area from the left side, delivering a low cross near the goal, but no teammates were able to connect with it.
De Bruyne tried his luck with a powerful low shot from outside the box, but it went just wide of the left post, missing another opportunity for City.
De Gregorio once again denied City with an excellent save, diving to his right to stop a fantastic shot from Gundogan that was heading to the far corner. De Bruyne then took another shot, but it flew over the crossbar, missing the target.
Against the run of play, Juventus launched a rapid counterattack. Weah sent in a cross for McKennie, who met it with a stunning flying shot to double the lead and give Juventus a 2-0 advantage.
Inside the Juventus penalty area, Luis struck a powerful shot that deflected off a defender. City appealed for a penalty, claiming the ball hit the defender’s hand before going to the goalkeeper, but the referee waved away the appeals.
The opening minutes of the match saw little action, with Manchester City struggling to impose themselves on the game.
