Juventus share spoils with Dortmund in eight-goal thriller

Juventus scored with virtually the last kick of the game to secure a 4-4 draw in their UEFA Champions League opening match against Borussia Dortmund.

The goal thriller was a match that started with few chances in the first half, which ended goalless, before goals galore in the second half.

The Bianconeri will have Dusan Vlahovic to thank for this massive single point. The Serbian team had equalised 2-2 for the host, who later were on the verge of losing 4-2 before coming to their rescue again.

Serbian striker who almost left this summer, reduced the tally during the extra time and then provided a sweet cross for Lloyd Kelly, who had handled the ball that resulted in the spot kick of Dortmund’s fourth goal. The English defender scored with a flying header to end a sensational game at the Juventus Stadium.

This is another story of resilience from Juventus that simply didn’t give up by scoring two goals within the 6 added minutes.

The Bianconeri had gone into the game on the back of three wins from their opening three Serie A games, including Saturday’s chaotic 4-3 victory over rivals Inter. 

Khephren Thuram called Dortmund’s goalie Gregor Kobel to action with a deflected long-range strike, which was desperately fingertipped around the near top corner while Lloyd Kelly nodded over from the resulting set play.

Dortmund had more possession than the hosts, but Juve created the chances. One was a Kenan Yildiz volley charged down, and Jonathan David fired his shot over from the edge of the area, while Openda’s cross-shot was smothered at the near post.

The visitors got their first real chance straight after the restart. They released a long ball that caught the Juve defence out, making Michele Di Gregorio rush off his line, and managed to get something on the Maximilian Beier finish from a tight angle to push it onto the upright.

They didn’t make amends after that warning, and Karim Adeyemi punished them for that moments later.

Felix Nmecha pounced on a loose ball, and Adeyemi drilled hard and low into the far bottom corner from the edge of the area to give the Bundesliga side the lead.

They had a chance to make it two almost a second later. Weston McKennie stumbled as the through ball released Serhou Guirassy, forcing Di Gregorio to rush off his line for the desperate save from point-blank range.

The hosts then restored parity with a magnificent right-foot curler into the far top corner from Kenan Yildiz, which was reminiscent of the one his hero Alessandro Del Piero had scored against the same opponents in 1995.

However, Dortmund reestablished its lead barely 60 seconds later. Adeyemi was backing the goal to lay the ball for Nmecha to bend first time from the edge of the post with the inside of the right boot.

Vlahovic was introduced from the bench and made an immediate impact. He ran onto the Kenan Yildiz through ball to beat Kobel one-on-one and draw Juventus level again.

Dortmund regained the lead through Di Gregorio’s howler. The goalkeeper allowed a Yan Couto snapshot to squirm through his gloves at the base of the near post after Marcel Sabitzer had robbed Thuram.

Kobel made another stunning fingertips save by pushing a Kenan Yildiz scorcher onto the upright from outside the box.

Dortmund then got another opportunity from the spot after a counterattacking move. On the counter-attack, Guirassy’s shot squirmed under Kelly, and the referee awarded a penalty for handball.  Ramy Bensebaini stepped up and sent Di Gregorio the wrong way.

Vlahovic then got in front of his marker to fire in at the near post on a Pierre Kalulu cross from the right to reduce the deficit to one.

Vlahovic then floated a cross from the right to find Lloyd Kelly for a diving header that sent the crowd wild for 4-4.

After a long pause for the VAR check on a potential offside, followed by another huge cheer as it was given the all-clear.