Published 10:02 IST, October 23rd 2019
Paulo Dybala's double rescues Juventus against Lokomotiv Moscow
Sarri praised Juventus for not losing their heads as Paulo Dybala's quick-fire second-half double rescued a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow
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Maurizio Sarri praised Juventus for t losing ir heads as Paulo Dybala's quick-fire second-half double rescued a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in ir Champions League Group D clash in Turin on Tuesday. Italian champions had trailed Russians with 13 minutes to go in Allianz Stadium after Aleksei Miranchuk had put visitors ahead after half an hour. But Paulo Dybala pulled hosts level on 77 minutes and added a second two minutes later to keep Juventus on course in Group D with seven points after three games. Sarri's side had drawn with Atletico Madrid and beaten Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in last two games. Atletico also have seven points, after beating Leverkusen 1-0 in Spain on Tuesday, with Lokomotiv third with three points.
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"It became a difficult match when we conceded this goal," said former Chelsea boss Sarri. "But we did well t to lose our heads. We knew we could get back into match. "We had 25 shots on goal, we established a record for possession, so we played well. "It wasn't an exceptional day, we play every three days, so a less brilliant day." Cristia Ronaldo missed chance for ar record of scoring against a 34th different Champions League club. Portuguese star drew a blank in Turin, firing over from a Juan Cuadrado cross early as, despite dominating possession, Juventus struggled to break down Russians.
'Painful victory'
Lokomotiv broke through with ir first clear chance. Miranchuk shrugged off Leonardo Bonucci and Juventus defense to find on-loan Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario whose effort was cleared by Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny into path of Russian forward who finished. "It was a tough game," said Miranchuk. "We got tired closer to end and lost focus. Juve are a dangerous team and punished us for that." Paulo Dybala looked as if he had scored equalizer before break but play had stopped following Ronaldo's tackle on Lokomotiv goalkeeper Guilherme.
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Paulo Dybala fired over just after break with fellow Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain coming on in place of Sami Khedira. Szczesny cleared a Joao Mario effort after an hour while at or end Higuain missed two quick-fire chances before Paulo Dybala finally rifled in equalizer. Alex Sandro was denied two minutes later but Dybala was on hand to follow up to keep Juventus unbeaten in all competitions this season. "I'm very happy, I really needed two goals like this," said Paulo Dybala. "It was a difficult game but tonight you could really see level of experience of our team. We always remained calm until we finally scored."
Argentine was substituted after his double to an ovation from home crowd. It had been a difficult start to season for 25-year-old who had looked set for a move away from Turin to eir Tottenham or Manchester United after Higuain's return from Chelsea. "w we won and you all say that we can play toger. But if we were losing, opinions would have been completely different," he added of partnership with Ronaldo and Higuain. "It was a painful victory, n a great goal from Dybala made difference," said Szczesny. Lokomotiv coach Yuri Semin said "it was a logical" defeat. "We didn't have eugh strength in end. I didn't make substitutions in hope that we would survive final push from Juve, but we didn't."
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09:56 IST, October 23rd 2019