Juventus beats Sevilla to go top of Champions League group
TURIN, Italy (AP) - Juventus eased to a 2-0 win over Sevilla to move top of Group D in the Champions League on Wednesday as the Turin side once again put its domestic woes to one side.
Alvaro Morata broke the deadlock four minutes from halftime, scoring for the fifth successive Champions League match, and substitute Simone Zaza secured the win three minutes from time in his first ever European match.
Juventus, which beat Manchester City in its opening group match, is three points above both Sevilla and City, which won 2-1 at Borussia Monchengladbach.
Juventus and Sevilla have had woeful starts to their respective domestic seasons and both have just five points after six rounds.
"The difference? In the Champions League we have six points and in the league we have five, having played more games," Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. "We had a good game tonight, and that didn't happen at Napoli. And in football if you don't play well, you can run as much as you want but little changes.
"Our attitude has always been the same ... we played better technically tonight."
Sevilla, which kicked off its Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win over 'Gladbach, only recorded its first win in the Spanish league last weekend.
"We did OK in attack and we noticed improvement in the rest but not enough against a great side like Juventus," Sevilla coach Unai Emery said. "We had hardly any goalscoring chances. The result is fair and now we have to go forward like this and things will improve as we grow as a team."
Losing finalists last season, Juventus almost got off to the perfect start as it had a great chance inside the opening 30 seconds, but Paul Pogba volleyed over the crossbar from inside the area.
Sevilla was defending in numbers and every time Juventus attacked it found itself faced with a sea of red shirts. However, Patrice Evra was finding space on the left flank and he nearly set up the opener in the eighth minute.
The former Manchester United defender had time to stop and look up before sending in a pinpoint cross, which Morata headed just wide of the right post under pressure.
Juventus was also trying its luck from distance and a Hernanes snapshot flew narrowly wide of the the left upright from 30 yards.
Paulo Dybala went even closer in the 17th minute when he curled an effort millimeters wide of the far left post from the edge of the area.
Sevilla was content to sit back and counterattack but posed little threat to the Juventus defense.
Juventus should have taken the lead in the 35th following a great cut-back from the byline by Sami Khedira to Dybala but the Argentinian slipped.
The hosts did go in front four minutes from halftime when Juan Cuadrado, who was causing Sevilla problems on the right flank, cut back from the byline to Andrea Barzagli, who crossed for Morata to head into the bottom right corner.
The last player to score in five Champions League matches for Juventus was club legend Alessandro del Piero. It was also Morata's seventh goal in his past nine games in the competition.
Dybala had a great chance to double Juve's lead straight after the break as he muscled his way into the area but Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico got down swiftly to block his shot.
The 21-year-old went close again shortly after the hour, when he was tripped by Steven N'Zonzi right on the edge of the area, but his free-kick was too central and Rico was able to comfortably gather.
Dybala played a part in the second goal, winning back possession in a tussle with two Sevilla defenders and passing across to Zaza. The Italy forward had fresh legs after coming off the bench seven minutes earlier and he sprinted clear from near the halfway line before slotting past Rico.