Juventus substitute Samuel Mbangula snatched a late winner as the Italian giants beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase playoff tie on Tuesday.
The Belgian’s 82nd minute close-range finish handed Juve a slender advantage to take to the Netherlands for next week’s return leg after PSV fought back from a halftime deficit.
A thunderous strike from Weston McKennie had put the hosts into a 34th minute lead but Ivan Perisic, who turned 36 this month, put PSV level 10 minutes into the second half.
Both sides, who have previously won Europe’s top club prize, had chances in a flowing game and will feel they can progress to the last 16 in the return encounter next Wednesday.
“There were phases where they dominated and we dominated. In the second half it went both ways and everything is still possible and we’re going for it,” said PSV captain Luuk de Jong.
Juventus’ opening goal was all down to the persistence of marauding defender Federico Gatti, eager to press forward on the right flank and who intercepted a poor clearance before taking the ball to the byline and putting in a dangerous cross.
Photo by Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu via Getty Images
PSV failed to clear properly as the ball bounced around in the six-yard box before falling again to Gatti, who chested it into the path of McKennie on the edge of the penalty area, setting up the American for a thunderous drive into the net.
The home side had made a lively start, pegging back PSV almost immediately and setting up chances for Kenan Yildiz, Timothy Weah and Nicolas Gonzalez but the Dutch side also had first-half opportunities.
Juve were also quick out of the blocks after the break and were denied a second goal in the 51st minute as Mbangula’s strike from Weah’s sprint down the wing and pinpoint cross was cleared off the goal-line by PSV defender Ryan Flamingo.
Five minutes later PSV were level as Noa Lang cut inside off the wing onto the edge of the box, the ball looping up in the air as his attempted shot was blocked by Manuel Locatelli.
It fell for Croatian Perisic who expertly brought the ball down with a cool first touch, then switched it to his left and squeezed his low shot inside the near post.
There had been appeals for a handball against Lang in the build-up but the goal was confirmed after a VAR check.
Juventus secured their narrow victory with eight minutes remaining as Francisco Conceicao’s ran down the right and crossed, with goalkeeper Walter Benítez palming the ball onto the foot of Mbangula, who gratefully snapped up the chance.
“We know that when we concede a goal, we have to continue playing as before. With the quality we have, if we continue playing, we can come back and score and win,” Mbangula said.