Carlos Tevez scores the winning goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid.     Picture Credit : Uefa.com
Juventus beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the 1st leg of the Champions League semi-final in Turin, with Carlos Tevez scoring the winning goal. The Argentine was the star of the show, as he provided the assist for Juve’s first goal and then scored their second goal from the penalty spot. Juventus will now have a one goal advantage going into the 2nd leg of the semi-final at the Santiago Bernabeu, next week.
The Old Lady, as Juventus are affectionately known, made a bright start to the game and looked the livelier of the two sides. Arturo Vidal was put through on goal in the 1st minute but he was quickly closed down by the Madrid defence. Alvaro Morata nearly caught out Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a delicate lob but his effort was saved by the Madrid captain. The early Juve pressure would finally tell when they took the lead in the 9th minute. Claudio Marchisio played in Tevez, who struck a powerful shot which Casillas could only parry to an oncoming Morata, for a tap-in goal. But the former Real player did not celebrate the goal he scored against his previous employers. Toni Kroos almost pulled a goal back immediately but his long range effort was well saved by Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Juventus kept on dictating play and pressurising a nervous-looking Madrid team that seemed rattled in the early stages of the match.
Madrid would eventually settle into the game and started getting back into the contest. Cristiano Ronaldo had his first scoring opportunity when he was put through on goal by Isco but he pulled his shot wide. But Real would get the equaliser in the 27th minute, after some great work by Dani Carvajal and James Rodriguez, who set-up Ronaldo, as he scored a simple header. Both sides kept pushing for more goals but the teams went into the half-time break with the score at 1-1.
After a cautious start to the 2nd half, the game would spark back to life in the 55th minute. Carlos Tevez won a loose ball from a Madrid corner and set off on a counter-attack. He ran all the way into the opposition’s penalty area but was brought down by Carvajal and the referee immediately pointed to the penalty spot. Tevez took the penalty and scored his 50th goal for Juventus. After scoring the 2nd goal, Juve sat back and looked content to defend their lead. Madrid kept pushing forward but failed to unlock the Juve defence again. Juventus almost scored their 3rd goal but Fernando Llorente couldn’t make use of the opportunities. Juventus held on for a memorable 2-1 victory and will be confident of progressing to the final when the sides meet again.
