Alvaro Morata scored twice before two defensive mistakes helped Juventus to a 4-1 UEFA Champions League win at Ferencvaros on Wednesday as they bounced back from last week’s defeat by Barcelona. The Serie A side were too slick for their spirited opponents, who are back in the group stage after a 25-year absence, and cantered home at a soggy Puskas Arena to go second in Group H with six points from three games. Ferencvaros have one point. "Games can become easy only if you play well," said Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini. "In the first half we were a bit slow with possession, we raised our tempo in the second half and we managed to earn another important win."
Juve got the ideal start when defender Leonardo Bonucci threaded a pass down the right touchline to set Juan Cuadrado away and the Colombian`s low cross was tapped in by Morata at the far post after seven minutes. Despite the early setback, Ferencvaros acquitted themselves well with Tokmac Nguen and Oleksandr Zubkov both having chances but sending shots wide. Cristiano Ronaldo was always a danger for Juve, however, and nearly added a second after combining with Morata but the ball was taken off his foot by Miha Blazic as he was about to shoot.
Chelsea win, Manchester United lose
Chelsea eased to a 3-0 win over 10-man Rennes in the Champions League Group E on Wednesday, thanks to two first-half penalties hammered home by striker Timo Werner and a tap-in by Tammy Abraham. The match swung the way of the Londoners with the two penalty decisions which both went against Rennes defender Dalbert Henrique, on loan from Inter Milan. The Brazilian was shown a second yellow card and sent off in the 40th minute, after a long VAR check, when the ball ricocheted from his calf to his arm, having earned his first caution for tripping Werner in the box after 10 minutes. Werner converted both spot-kicks emphatically, taking the role of Chelsea`s penalty-taker from Jorginho who missed two earlier this season.
Manchester United suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday, the English side`s first loss in three Champions League group matches and the Turkish champions’ first victory in Europe`s premier club competition. United fell behind after 12 minutes when Edin Visca`s long pass found Demba Ba in acres of space and the striker ran forward before finishing neatly past goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Basaksehir doubled their lead five minutes before halftime after Deniz Turuc nicked the ball from Juan Mata and passed to Ba who set up Visca to score.
