Juventus are favourites to claim top spot in Champions League Group D
ahead of Manchester City after Mario Mandzukic sunk their fellow
qualifiers in Turin.
Juventus joined Manchester City
in the knockout stages of the Champions League thanks to a 1-0 home
victory over their Group D rivals on Wednesday.
Mario
Mandzukic got the Italian champions' first goal when they came from
behind to secure a 2-1 win in Manchester on matchday one, and the
Croatia striker's 18th-minute strike was enough to seal the points this
time around.
Having made sure of their own last-16
berth with a superb 3-1 win at Sevilla in their previous game, City
manager Manuel Pellegrini urged his team to grab top spot with victory
in Turin.
On the back of their humiliating 4-1
loss to Liverpool on Saturday, the Premier League side turned in a much
improved showing but lacked cutting edge to lend Juve the advantage in
the battle for a seeded place in the knockout draw.
Juve
only need a point from their final match at Sevilla to finish first
ahead of City, who have been dumped out by Barcelona in the past two
seasons as second-place qualifiers and will now fear a similar fate
against a European heavyweight.
Substitute Raheem
Sterling passed up a glorious chance to equalise in the closing stages
before a miserable night for Pellegrini was compounded by an apparent
groin injury to Joe Hart.
City had little to show
for patient build-up play during the opening stages until Kevin De
Bruyne's cross from the left broke for Fernandinho, a goalscorer against
Sevilla, who blazed wastefully over on this occasion.
It
was a miss the visitors would regret almost instantly as Paul Pogba
orchestrated a Juventus break, skipping past De Bruyne to feed Alex
Sandro before the wing-back's measured delivery was slotted home on the
volley by Mandzukic.
A stunning reaction save by
Hart prevented Mandzukic from adding a second on the end of Stephan
Lichtsteiner's 28th-minute knockdown.
A woeful
backpass from Claudio Marchisio almost let City striker Sergio Aguero in
for an equaliser ahead of the interval but veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi
Buffon stood firm.
Another wonderful Sandro cross
was impressively cleared by Nicolas Otamendi with Mandzukic lurking
early in the second half before City came agonisingly close to an
equaliser.
Fernando guided De Bruyne's left-wing
corner towards the bottom corner, where Buffon touched his header onto
the base of the post and gathered with Yaya Toure lurking.
Once
again, City were at their most vulnerable having almost scored - Alvaro
Morata, on for a limping Mandzukic, broke free of the away defence and
his lofted attempt over Hart glanced the far post with Paulo Dybala
unable to turn home.
Aguero, largely starved of
service, had a 67th-minute volley deflected wide before making way for
Sterling and Pellegrini's new attacking spearhead endured a moment to
forget 10 minutes from time.
The England
forward looked set to keep City in control of the race for top spot but
he scuffed wide left-footed from De Bruyne's low cross with the goal
gaping.
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