Tottenham crash out at the hands of Higuain and Juventus

Date: 7th March 2018 at 10:37pm
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A goal and assist from Gonzalo Higuain saw Juventus power past Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night.

With the first leg finishing 2-2 in Turin, Juventus needed victory or a three goal plus draw in order to qualify for the next round.

The tie was won in a crazy three minute period, with Higuain directing a Sami Khedira header in on 64 minutes, before playing Paulo Dybala through on goal, which turned out to the winner.

As a result, Massmiliano Allegri keeps his fantastic knockout record going, having reached the final in seven of the eight cup competitions he has entered with the Bianconeri.

It was Spurs who dominated the early going and went close though Harry Kane, as he wriggled clear of Giorgio Chiellini, and rounded Gianluigi Buffon, but could only fire into the side netting.

Dangerous on the counter attack, Juventus had a clear penalty denied by referee Szymon Marciniak after Douglas Costa was brought down in the box by Jan Vertonghen, but both the official and his assistant waved play on, much to the ire of the Bianconeri players.

From there, Juventus were pushed further and further into their own half as Heung-Min Son tormented Andrea Barzagli on Spurs’ left side.

The South Korean first fired a dangerous effort across goal, inches wide of the far post. But it was only a warning of what was to come as just before half time Tottenham got the opening goal.

Following a bout of pinball in the Juve box, the ball fell to Kieran Trippier on the right, and his low cross found Son at the far post unmarked and his mishit shot trundled over the line.

After the break it was more of the same as Spurs continued to press their opponents without creating much, until three minutes of madness gave the advantage to Juve.

Just after the hour mark, Juventus got themselves back into the game through Higuain. Stephan Lichtsteiner crossed for Sami Khedira whose header towards goal was poked home by the Argentine striker.

The whole game was turned on its head as Dybala broke free of the Spurs backline minutes later, thanks to a through ball from Higuain, and ‘La Joya’ made no mistake, easily finishing into the far right corner.

As you would expect, Tottenham laid siege to the Juventus goal, though never really created anything of note until the final minute when Harry Kane headed onto the post, before the ball was cleared off the line.

 

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