Juventus 1 : 1 FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Juve held by Ukrainians - 7M sport

Juventus 1 : 1 FC Shakhtar Donetsk - Juve held by Ukrainians



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Posted Tuesday, October 02, 2012 by PA

Juventus could not deliver a first Champions League victory at their new stadium but the Bianconeri might count themselves lucky to have salvaged a 1-1 draw against a spirited Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Juventus Stadium hosted its first European fixture since opening last summer - despite 10,000 tickets going unsold for the game - but it took a thunderbolt from defender Leonardo Bonucci to guarantee a share of the spoils after Alex Teixeira had put the Ukrainians ahead on the counter-attack.

Two points from two draws leaves Juventus in third place in Group E - above pointless FC Nordsjaelland - while Chelsea and Shakhtar occupy the top-two spots with four points apiece.

Improbably, Henrikh Mkhitaryan scooped the ball over the crossbar when Teixera found him lurking in space but Shakhtar were soon calling for a penalty.

Willian felt that he had been wrestled to the ground by Stephan Lichtsteiner but referee Bas Nijhuis was not interested in his protests.

Alessandro Matri, who was profligate throughout, failed to make the most of a sweet pass from Mirko Vucinic, Claudio Marchisio then rifling Andrea Pirlo's superb lob over the bar before Shakhtar made the breakthrough.

Fluid one-touch football brought Willian within sight of goal in the 23rd minute. The Brazilian's first attempt was blocked by Andrea Barzagli but he happily fed Teixera to rattle home the rebound.

Juve's response was both immediate and spectacular, though, with Pirlo's corner skidding to a halt in front of Bonucci for the centre-back to powerfully lash the ball into the back of the net.

Visiting goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov did better to smother a rocket from Arturo Vidal on the half-hour mark but Bonucci almost made it 2-1 deep into first-half stoppage time.

Pyatov thought fast to stick out a leg and repel the Italy international's bullet header as Shakhtar managed to reach the break level.

But there was no respite after the interval as Matri soon saw his dipping drive deflected to safety.

Shakhtar sprang into life once more on the hour mark when Yaroslav Rakitskiv forged through the middle of the park unopposed to feed Willian, who squeezed his snapshot just wide of a post.

Another gilt-edged chance went begging, this time at the other end, as Juve substitute Sebastian Giovinco burst down the left flank, only for Matri to clip the ball over the bar at full stretch.

As time ticked away in Turin, Willian snapped his effort just wide with Gianluigi Buffon left stranded and Mkhitaryan dragged the ball off target after racing across the edge of the box.

But both sides came close to sealing victory at the death, substitute striker Fabio Quagliarella blasting left-footed only to be denied by Pyatov's outstretched glove.

And Buffon survived one last test as he pushed Willian's close-range effort over the bar to keep Juventus' unbeaten run in tact.



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