Juventus 4-2 Zenit: Player ratings as Bianconeri seal Champions League progress
Juventus sealed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a comfortable 4-2 win over Zenit St Petersburg in Turin on Tuesday night.
Juve made a dominant start to proceedings, with Paulo Dybala seeing a low shot tipped onto the post before opening the scoring two minutes later, firing the ball into the ground and sending it arching into the net from Leonardo Bonucci's knock down.
Despite their early dominance, the Bianconeri were pegged back when Bonucci inadvertently looped a header over his own goalkeeper 26 minutes in.
Dybala went close again with a fine curling effort after half-time and doubled up from the penalty spot shortly afterwards after Federico Chiesa was tripped by Claudinho. The Argentine missed his initial spot kick but the referee somewhat harshly ordered it to be retaken due to encroachment, and the 27-year-old made no mistake at the second time of asking.
Wojciech Szczesny then made two good low saves before Weston McKennie slammed the crossbar at the other end following a mazy dribble.
A minute later, Chiesa showed wonderful composure to drag the ball out of the defender's reach and fire low across the goalkeeper into the opposite corner to seal the win. The electric Italian saw another effort cleared off the line before Alvaro Morata squeezed home to round off a move he started.
Sardar Azmoun poked in a second in stoppage time for Zenit, but it was another mere consolation.
Juventus progress from Chelsea's Group H. Here's how the players rated...
JUVENTUS PLAYER RATINGS
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Wojciech Szczesny (GK) - 7/10 - Could do nothing as Bonucci's header looped over him. Good saves to deny low shots from Claudinho and Malcom with Juve 2-1 up.
Danilo (RB) - 7/10 - Solid if unspectacular at the back. Not really tested by Claudinho.
Leonardo Bonucci (CB) - 5/10 - Headed assist for Dybala, although not sure he meant it. Strange own goal. Subbed.
Matthijs de Ligt (CB) - 6/10 - Generally solid but all at sea for Zenit's second.
Alex Sandro (LB) - 7/10 - Similar to Danilo. Solid night's work.
2. Midfielders
Federico Chiesa (RM) - 8/10 - Came to life after the break, winning the penalty and scoring a fine goal.
Weston McKennie (CM) - 8/10 - All-action display in midfield. So unlucky to thump the bar after a Messi-esque run.
Manuel Locatelli (CM) - 7/10 - Kept things ticking over with a 95% pass success rate. Booked and subbed.
Federico Bernardeschi (LM) - 8/10 - Actually pretty good. Got an assist and posed a threat throughout.
3. Forwards
Paulo Dybala (ST) - 9/10 - Wonderful, wonderful individual performance. Bagged two goals and got the assist for Morata. Could have got about three more of each.
Alvaro Morata (ST) - 7/10 - Bad miss from Dybala's cut-back. Good work in the build-up to the penalty. Did eventually get on the scoresheet but it was a characteristically mixed bag.
4. Substitutes
Adrien Rabiot (LM) - 6/10 - Those who follow 90min's Juventus ratings will know we don't usually score Rabiot with more than a 1/10, so this is a stark improvement.
Arthur (CM) - 6/10
Daniele Rugani (CB) - N/A
Dejan Kulusevski (ST) - N/A