Juventus all but booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals as they beat Celtic 3-0 at Parkhead in the first-leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday evening.
------------------------------------------------------------
Predict result and win big with Soccer6
------------------------------------------------------------
Claudio Marchisio scored one goal in each half while Mirko Vucinic slotted home in the dying minutes to leave the Old Lady with three invaluable away goals heading into the second-leg in Turin.
The visitors got off to a dream start after just three minutes as a lapse in concentration from Efe Ambrose allowed Alessandro Matri to get on the end of a routine ball before putting his effort between the goalkeeper's legs, and although Kelvin Wilson managed to hook the ball off the line, Marchisio was there to slam home the rebound.
Celtic looked to respond and moments later Victor Wanyama almost found a way through, but the Kenya international could only slam a viscous effort against the chest of Gianluigi Buffon.
Buffon again kept his side ahead after getting down low to parry a shot away, while at the other end Matri proved a constant threat with his movement off the ball.
Wanyama looked lively for the Glasgow giants but lashed his shot well wide from range, while a smart burst off the line from Fraser Forster at the other end prevented Vucinic from running clean through on goal.
Kris Commons almost found a sensational equaliser for the Hoops after producing an audacious overhead kick from Mikael Lustig's cross, but his effort flashed just past the post.
Wanyama was proving wasteful in front of goal as the half drew to a close and headed a corner over from close range after finding himself completely unmarked.
After the restart Celtic looked destined to score as Charlie Mulgrew delivered a pin-perfect cross into the area to pick out the completely unmarked Ambrose, but he couldn't make up for his earlier error and headed down into the ground to allow the keeper to save.
Midway through the second-half, though, the visitors grabbed their second, Matri producing a sublime touch to flick the ball into the path of Marchisio, whose smart dummied-shot took his marker out of the equation before he rifled past the goalkeeper.
With seven minutes remaining Celtic's hopes of making history by becoming the first Scottish team to play in the Champions League quarter-finals were virtually snuffed out as Vucinic was played clean through on goal before slotting a cool finish under the keeper and into the back of the net.





Post A Comment!
Be the first to post a comment on this story