Manchester City ties Juventus in the Europa League
Manchester City came from behind to earn a point against Juventus in the Europa League on Thursday with the teams' encounter finishing 1–1.
Juventus and City have been held as favourites to progress from Group A, which also includes Lech Poznan and FC Salzburg. But after two games, Polish team Poznan are top of the group with four points, while the two favourites are second and third with three
points each, two points ahead of Salzburg, in fourth place.
"We knew it would be difficult to break though their defence because they were really organised and defended really well as a team," City midfielder Patrick Vieira said after Adam Johnson's strike cancelled out Vincenzo Iaquinta's early goal.
"We tried to move them from right to left to find a space, and we managed to score one goal. We should have scored more, but the way it was we have to be pleased with the point."
Iaquinta beats Hart early on
Juventus broke through veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero, who fed Iaquinta on the left wing. With space to advance, Iaquinta moved inside and hit a strike from 25 yards that deflected off Kolo Toure and bounced once before finding Joe Hart's left corner.
City had two corner kicks shortly after the goal. Another corner followed, but Yaya Toure conceded a foul as he tried to convert from the six-yard box.
After 35 minutes, City captain Carlos Tevez cut inside from the left, hitting a lofted through ball that Gareth Barry flicked onto the far post, while Johnson's effort from the loose ball was saved by Alexander Manninger.
Two minutes later, Yaya Toure advanced in Juventus' half before playing an inch-perfect through ball that evaded the Italian defence and found Johnson inside the box. The English prospect took one touch to move across Manninger and slid the ball into the
middle of the net to the delight of the home fans.
Del Piero comes close
Del Piero lined up to hit a trademark free kick from thirty yards, twenty minutes into the second half, but his swerving effort dipped just wide of the left post.
The striker was then given another dead-ball opportunity when Juventus were awarded another free kick in the 85th minute. This time, he aimed at the middle of the goal, and with Hart unable to predict the direction of the ball, it hit the underside of the
bar and bounced on the goal line before returning into play.
Having come away with a share of the spoils against the Italians, nothing less than a victory will be expected when City host Poznan three weeks from now.
Juventus, who travel to face Salzburg on the same day, will also need three points to increase their chances of progressing from the group.
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