On Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021 the aggressive and highly – talented Argentinian forward / attacking midfielder, Paulo Dybala, scored two goals as Juventus defeated Zenit St. Petersburg with a final tally of 4 to 2. With this group stage victory Juve has secured their spot in the Champions League last 16 knockout rounds with 2 group stage games to spare.
Juve’s latest win provided them with a nice helping of relief for the football club that had previously lost 2 consecutive contests in Serie A match play, and they are potentially failing out of contention for a crown domestically. Success in the upcoming Champions League knock out tournament would be a great way for Juventus to salvage a rather disappointing season in Serie A.
Federico Chiesa as well as Alvaro Morata also both netted goals for the high-powered offense of the Bianconeri.
At the moment Juve has now come out victorious throughout all 4 of their games in the group stage of the Champions League, and they currently are leading Group H by 3 – points ahead of the defending champions in Chelsea. Chelsea also won their last match 1 to 0 versus Malmo earlier this week.
Presently Juventus has the full maximum number of points with 12, Chelsea has earned 9 – points, Zenit St. Petersburg has 3 – points, and Malmo unfortunately has 0 – points so far in the group stage of the Champions League competition this year.
With Giorgio Chiellini sitting on the bench for Juventus, Dybala took over as the football club’s leader on the pitch by wearing the captain’s armband, and he appeared to play with conviction and passion from the very start of this match that Dybala led Juve to the victory in against Zenit St. Petersburg last Tuesday.
Dybala just missed by striking the post 9 minutes in, but then he pushed Juventus ahead only 2 minutes later by utilizing 1 touch to redirect the loose football in the middle of the 18 – yard box after an ensuing corner-kick.
It was all Juve in the beginning of the match, and Zenit St. Petersburg was fortunate to find an equalizer prior to putting a shot on goal when Leonardo Bonucci headed the ball into his own goal during a failed attempt to clear the ball from their end.
After the halftime break, Chiesa scored a penalty and Dybala converted a goal for Juventus on his 2nd try following a retake that was ordered because of encroachment when his initial shot soared wide.
The American star midfielder, Weston McKennie, also hit the crossbar on an attempt for Juve right before Chiesa showed off some fancy dribbling as he beat multiple defenders which included the Zenit St. Petersburg captain, Dejan Lovren, in order to blast an angled – shot into the far corner of the goal.
Morata scored another goal for Juventus with just 8 minutes of game time remaining as Morata redirected a ball that came up over the top to his reach.
Sardar Azmoun got a goal back for Zenit St. Petersburg during stoppage time, but it was too little too late as Juventus cruised to an easy 4 to 2 victory over Zenit.
Sources:
The Associated Press News Services. “Juventus secures spot in Champions League knockout phase”. The Associated Press. November 2, 2021.