A second-half penalty from Arturo Vidal has given Juventus a 1-0 win over AS Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final this evening.
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It looked like it would be a comfortable evening for Juventus in the opening five minutes as they dominated possession and created several early chances, but Alvaro Morata volleyed wide before Carlos Tevez had a shot saved.
Monaco's first chance came just a few minutes later though as Layvin Kurzawa came out from the back to unleash a powerful strike from 20 yards out, but it did not trouble Gianluigi Buffon.
The French side started to look the more likely, with Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco causing problems for the Juventus defence to create a couple of chances, while Kurzawa headed wide from a corner.
The hosts came back into the match late in the first half, but Claudio Marchisio was forced to take on a couple of shots from range, neither of which required action from Danijel Subasic.
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Monaco wanted a spot kick just before half time though as Giorgio Chiellini tangled with Anthony Martial in the box, but the referee was not interested in awarding the penalty.
Juventus looked the sharper of the two sides at the start of the second period with Vidal going for the spectacular from 30 yards out, but Subasic watched it all the way.
The visitors tried to catch the Italian champions out with a quick counter-attack a few minutes later, but Ferreira-Carrasco's ball in for Bernardo Silva was tipped behind by Buffon.
Juventus had a chance to open the scoring 10 minutes into the second half when Andrea Pirlo was clipped by Ricardo Carvalho, resulting in the hosts being awarded a penalty, despite the visitors insisting that the contact occurred outside the box.
Vidal stepped up to take the spot kick, and sent Subasic the wrong way as he picked out the top corner, giving Juventus the lead.
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Monaco looked to get back on level terms as soon as possible, resulting in a chance for Geoffrey Kondogbia with just over an hour played, but Buffon came off his line to tip it over, before claiming the ball from the resulting corner.
Morata wanted to double Juventus's lead when he charged down the left before cutting inside and trying to blast the ball in from the edge of the box, but his low finish was just wide.
The visitors brought Dimitar Berbatov off the bench as they tried to get back on level terms, and the striker came close just moments after coming on, meeting a cross from Joao Moutinho before heading just over.
The result means that Monaco will need to score at least once when they play the second leg at their home stadium next week.
Sian Cowper
