Shakhtar Donetsk secured a deserved
Champions League Group E point
away at Italian champions Juventus.
The Ukrainians, with their four
Brazilians the standout players, scored
first and outplayed Juventus - unbeaten
in their last 45 Serie A matches - for
long periods but had to settle for a 1-1
draw.
They almost took the lead after just six
minutes when Henrikh Mkhitaryan
whacked a close range effort over the
bar.
But Alex Teixeira gave the Ukrainian
champions a deserved lead in the 23rd
minute when he fired the ball into the
roof of the net after being cleverly set
up by his fellow Brazilian Willian.
It was the first European goal to be
scored at the Juventus Stadium which
was opened last year.
Juve defender Leondaro Bonucci
levelled out of the blue in the 25th
minute when he the ball was laid back
to him from a corner and he blasted
an unstoppable first-time shot into the
top corner.
Juve started the second half more
brightly and dominated possession,
but ultimately struggled to find the final
touch.
And it was the visitors who came
closest to scoring the decisive goal.
On 73 minutes Darijo Srna's free-kick
took a deflection off the Juve wall and
panicked Gianluigi Buffon, but the
keeper recovered to save.
Moments later Mkhitaryan's shot went
just wide of Buffon's right-hand post
after he had been set up cleverly by
Luiz Adriano.
The visitors spurned a golden chance
to snatch the win in injury time when
Willian picked up a loose ball in the
area. Although his shot was blocked,
the Brazilian picked up the rebound to
hit another shot which came off the
post.
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