Italian giants beat the Blue to go top of Group H in the UEFA Champions League as winger Federico Chiesa punished Thomas Tuchel’s men for a momentary lapse of concentration by scoring a goal seconds after the restart.
Federico Chiesa started in the frontline alongside Federico Bernardeschi. The pair took up the forward spots in the absence of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala. Their pace up top helped Juve successfully launch counter-attacks on several occasions despite Chelsea hoarding most of the ball.
One such counter-attack in the 20th minute saw Chiesa go close to open the scoring. The youngster took advantage of a poor touch by Mateo Kovacic and ran clear of Andreas Christensen before dragging his shot wide of the post. Minutes later, Adrien Rabiot tried his luck from distance, but missed the goal by inches.
The breakthrough arrived 10 seconds after the restart. Bernardeschi brought down a long ball and sent Chiesa through on goal with the subsequent pass. The Italian slammed a shot into the roof of the net the first time of asking to give Juventus a deserved lead.
Bernardeschi later missed a glorious opportunity to double Bianconeri’s lead when he blazed his shot wide from close range after being picked out by Juan Cuadrado.
Chelsea created late chances to level the score and were unfortunate not to do so. First, Romelu Lukaku shot high and wide from close range after turning his marker inside the box. Minutes later, Kai Havertz spurned two great opportunities, as he failed to keep his headers down on both occasions.
The loss means champions Chelsea are down to second in the table. The Blues play Malmo in a double-header next, while Juventus will take on Zenit Saint-Petersburg.
