Juventus comeback stuns Spurs

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Juventus duo Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala
  • Post published:March 7, 2018

Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala’s quick-fire strikes catapulted Juventus into the last eight of the Champions League at Wembley Stadium to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Having come back to draw 2-2 in the first leg, Tottenham took the lead in the tie for the first time when Heung-Min Son scuffed in from Kieran Trippier’s 39th-minute cross. The home side then continued to hold the lead until two goals in quick succession turned the contest on its head.

Higuain levelled by stabbing in Sami Khedira’s flick-on to tie the aggregate score and, three minutes later, he slid a pass through the middle of the hosts’ defence that Dybala galloped onto before drilling past Hugo Lloris to complete a stunning turnaround.

Unlike in Turin, where Juventus scored twice in the opening 10 minutes, this time it was Spurs who made the fast start, as they set a pace that the visitors struggled to cope with in the first half.

Son forced Gianluigi Buffon into an early save with a shot across goal before Harry Kane rounded the Juventus goalkeeper but could only hit the side-netting from a tight angle.

Juventus were rightly aggrieved in the 17th minute when they were not awarded a penalty after Jan Vertonghen slid in and caught Douglas Costa from behind.

However, that was a rare positive moment of positivity for the visitors, who were otherwise hassled and harried into making mistakes.

Buffon punched away a header from Son while Dele Alli and Kane also had shots before the deadlock was broken in the 39th minute.

Alli was denied by a sliding challenge as he was set to pull the trigger but the ball broke for Trippier to square for Son to finish with a scuffed effort.

Miralem Pjanic almost replied quickly with a shot that went narrowly wide, but otherwise Juventus offered little, with Spurs continuing to look the dominant side even after half-time.

But two goals in three minutes turned the tie on its head.

First, Khedira flicked on a cross for Higuain to turn in and then Dybala was played through and finished expertly past Lloris.

Spurs piled on the pressure in the final 20 minutes but the closest they came to forcing extra-time was when Kane’s header hit the post and rolled along the line.