Alvaro Morata double sees Andrea Pirlo off to winning Champions League start for Juventus
Alan Tyers
·11-min read
Alvaro Morata heads home for Juventus - SHUTTERSTOCK
Juventus made a winning start in the Champions League as they defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 thanks to a pair of classic poacher's goals from Alvaro Morata in their Group G opener on Tuesday.
Juve coach Andrea Pirlo enjoyed his first win as a manager in Europe's elite club competition, which he won twice with AC Milan during his playing days as a midfielder.
With Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out following a positive test for Covid-19, Dejan Kulusevski was twinned with Morata up front and Federico Chiesa created some early chances for the visitors.
However, Juve suffered an early setback when defender Giorgio Chiellini had to be substituted in the 19th minute with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, forcing Pirlo to reshuffle his defence before Morata came to the rescue.
A clever backheel by Aaron Ramsey set up Kulusevski and although the Swedish winger's shot was saved, Morata was on hand to fire home the rebound and the Spaniard then stole in front of his marker to head home from close range in the 84th minute.
The limited crowd roared on the hosts but Kyiv struggled to create decent chances on their return to the Champions League after a four-year absence as Juve comfortably closed out the win.
06:46 PM
Full time: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 2
Sydorchuk has a dibble from distance and Szczesny parries.
Now a freekick for the hosts, it will be Shaparenko from long range but that's wide, and that's the end of the match.
06:44 PM
89 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 2
The hosts pushing hard. They have a penalty shout when Verbic goes down in the box, looked as good a shout as some you see given, but nothing doing.
I think we can consider the matter settled here.
06:39 PM
GOAL! Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 2 (Morata 84)
Ah shame, that's always the worry - and of course the superb matchplay brain that is in the DNA of this club. Bernardeschi and Arthur in, out go Ramsey and Bentancur.
And maybe it is the subs just shaking things up, but here comes Cuadrado getting free, he crosses and Morata is there once again to slot it away and wrap this up.
06:36 PM
81 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
The subs have made a difference. The crowd seems to lift when Rodrigues has the ball, Popov has also caught the eye. Juventus aren't exactly under the cosh but Kyiv are asking plenty of questions.
06:32 PM
77 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Mykolenko with some good work, Buyalskiy gets it in the box, spin and shoot but no power behind it.
Feels like a bit of a shame that Kyiv didn't try this more attacking approach earlier, Juve certainly don't look impregnable. Perhaps the hosts could have been a bit bolder given that Chiellini had to come off after a quarter of an hour.
06:27 PM
75 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Rodrigues has won a corner. It's played back to Sydorchuk, who works the keeper.
Kyiv brought on Popov, not sure if that's Mr Popov or Mrs Popov, and Verbic. Seems to have injected a bit more energy.
06:26 PM
73 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Okay, Dynamo are playing their hand. They've stayed in the game at 0-1 and they're having a go now. A cross in, Bonucci clears.
Another ball in, much better tempo now from the hosts.
06:25 PM
Juve fans will have a story
for the folks back home.
Juventus fans - EPA EFE
06:24 PM
71 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Cuadrado with a magnificent swan dive, worth 9 even from the Soviet bloc judges, and there's a freekick.
06:21 PM
68 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
No outfit in the world better at controlling it with 1-0 and here are Juventus playing it around, slowing the game down, taking up time. It has been an uneventful few minutes.
06:19 PM
64 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Home side enjoying a spell of the ball but without looking like they plan to do a huge amount with it.
06:14 PM
58 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Dybala is getting busy in the area, looking dangerous.
Merih Demiral hacks down Supryaha from behind. Yellow.
A rare Kyiv excursion sees Ramsey play a rather champagne pass to back to a startled Cuadrado, who was just having a little rest in his own penalty area and suddenly found himself harassed by various of the home side.
06:11 PM
This guy had a part in the goal with a back heel
Aaron Ramsey of Juventus - Getty
06:09 PM
54 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Cuadrado was booked for pushing Karavaev, Second half has not got going quite yet.
Irritating for the Kyiv coach, you come up with a system to basically nullify a superior opponent and then a goalkeeping error serves it up.
06:08 PM
54 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 1
Dybala, who has been out of favour and is involved in a contract dispute with the club, is coming on for his first appearance under Pirlo.
It only takes 50 seconds for Juve to take the lead. Good from Chiesa down the left. He plays it into Ramsey who cleverly backheels to Kulusevski, who hits the target. Dodgy keeping once again from Bushchan, who palms the ball straight into the path of Morata, who cannot miss.
That keeper was an accident waiting to happen, he'd flapped at several corners already and he's handed that to Morata on a plate.
05:58 PM
46 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Juventus are on the front foot
05:57 PM
No changes at half time
and we are back in business.
05:54 PM
One possible future worry
for neophyte gaffer Pirlo is that his defensive rock Chiellini limped off clutching what one assumes was his hamstring.
05:44 PM
Half time: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
And that will do it for the first half. Kyiv have done a good job. Low block to start, but they got more ambitious as they went on. To state the bleeding obvious, Juventus look a lesser outfit without Ronaldo and don't really have an attacking focal point.
05:42 PM
44 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Shaparenko with a direct, pacy run - he looks an exciting talent to me - and he is chopped down by Bentancur. Yellow card and a freekick.
Juventus go with a two man wall - Ramsey and Cuadrado - that does not do its job! Tsygankov drills a low freekick through the wall but Szczesny is equal to it.
05:35 PM
40 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Ramsey wriggles through and hits the target.
05:35 PM
38 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
La Pena, once of Middlesbrough, breaks and tries to lob the Juventus keeper from distance! That would have been a treat.
05:31 PM
35 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Ramsey tries to twinkle-toes his way through the area and he stabs it into the box for Kulusevski, whose clever inventive flick at goal requires a good save.
Keeper again flaps at the corner but the ref helps him out this time with the verdict that a Juve player fouled him.
05:30 PM
32 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Shaparenko catching the eye, perhaps the approving eye of another deep-lying playmaker in the stadium... He's passing it around with some class and vision.
05:29 PM
31 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Sloppy pass out of defence from DK, straight to Rabiot, who drives forward. Lucky for Kyiv, Ramsey gets in the way of Rabiot. Can't rely on that every time.
05:27 PM
29 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Cuadrado down his flank, Ramsey the man who sent him away. Shoots, Bushchan does well.
05:23 PM
25 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Competent display from the hosts so far, stringing five across midfield.
The most significant thing about the match so far, for me anyway, is that there are actual fans who can be actually heard in an actual crowd!
05:20 PM
22 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
A lot relies on Morata with this system, to hold the ball up for Juve and spread it out to the wide men, or get support from the likes of Ramsey joining the play. It's not quite working at the moment, ball is not sticking to Morata.
05:15 PM
18 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Demiral is on for Chiellini, who goes off clutching the back of his leg. A setback for Juve, and obviously not just for this game, at the player's advanced age. Talking of veterans, he gives the armband to Bonucci
05:11 PM
15 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Almost a carbon copy of a minute or two ago as Chiesa picks it up on the left, cuts in, and fires.... wide.
05:10 PM
13 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
From that second corner, the keeper comes and just completely misses it! Chiellini at the back stick heads wide. He was surprised to receive the ball I think, and you can see why - it was a howler from the man Bushchan in nets.
05:09 PM
12 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
The Juve team look to have a lot of width - Cuadrado and Chiesa are really stretching the play and getting their boots chalky. Here is Chiesa down the left, receives the ball from Ramsey and cuts inside, excellent low rasping shot and they win a corner. That's cleared. Now a corner from the other side.
05:07 PM
11 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
A low block for Dynamo, and their central midfielder is also dropping back to keep Morata quiet and help out the inexperienced central defenders.
05:06 PM
8 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Dynamo have a freekick of their own now. Szczęsny comes for it and collides with Morata but there is nobody on the premises for the home team.
05:03 PM
5 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
The hosts are dropping very deep, allowing Juve to dictate the terms and the pace of the game.
04:59 PM
2 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
Juventus have an early freekick. Kulusevski whips it in, but straight into the arms of the keeper.
04:57 PM
1 mins: Dynamo Kyiv 0 Juventus 0
It's all orange versus all white on the strips. The Juventus veteran backline, resplendent in orange, play it around and now it is forward to Cuadrado to try a cross in. Repelled.
04:57 PM
There will be fans at this game
And there are players on the pitch
04:46 PM
Nice line from the great James Richardson
as he sets the scene for BT Sport: the Dynamo manager Mircea Lucescu gave Pirlo his Serie A debut when he was a kid of 16 at Brescia.
Some cute footage just now of the old master embracing the newbie manager.
Andrea Pirlo - SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
04:43 PM
Andrea Pirlo
in the hotseat, then. He's replaced Sarri. He was the coach of the Under-23s for nine days, then they binned off Mauricio, and then he was made coach of the main show right away. Fair to say that he carries the goodwill of the fans, and indeed surely of everyone who likes football. Whether he will be any cop at all as a manager is anybody's guess. Still, they've made a decent enough start - won two drawn two domestically.
04:38 PM
Right then lets get into this here match
No Ronaldo, that's obviously a shame. But quite cool to see Ramsey getting his game at a major European side?
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