Maccabi Haifa recorded their first UEFA Champions League win since 2002 as they stunned Juventus with a famous 2-0 victory at the Sammy Ofer Stadium, denting the visitors’ hopes of a ninth-straight appearance in the UCL round of 16.Despite coming into the contest with three defeats from their opening three UCL matches, the hosts started positively as Frantzdy Pierrot saw a close-range header palmed away by Wojciech Szczęsny within the first five minutes. Having survived that close escape, Juventus’ lacklustre start was deservedly punished a couple of minutes later, when Pierre Cornud’s inviting delivery was glanced into the far corner by Omer Atzili.Buoyed by the early breakthrough, Maccabi continued to dominate the early exchanges, and came within inches of doubling their advantage when Tjarron Chery struck the top of the crossbar with an angled free-kick. Juventus desperately searched for an equaliser after a dreadful opening half-hour, but found themselves further behind three minutes before halftime as Pierrot picked out Atzili, who curled a superb strike into the top corner beyond Szczęsny.Faced with a two-goal deficit, the visitors looked to control the early exchanges of the second half, but Josh Cohen stood firm in the Maccabi goal to deny efforts from Daniele Rugani and Dušan Vlahović. Having failed to record an away victory since April, Juventus flattered to deceive against a resolute Maccabi rearguard, with Arkadiusz Milik seeing his side’s best opportunity comfortably held by Cohen.As time ticked into the final few minutes, Juventus seemed resigned to defeat, and the hosts eased through stoppage time to secure a famous victory. The result sees Maccabi draw level with Juventus on three points in Group H, with both sides looking to bridge the four-point gap to Benfica and PSG at the top of the table with just two matches remaining.It is safe to say that Allegri’s relationship with the Old Lady is close to a break up.Elsewhere, Manchester City all-but sealed their passage to the knockout rounds after an incident-laden 0-0 draw with FC Copenhagen. Byens Hold remain goalless in this season’s UCL, while the Cityzens six-game winning streak in all competitions comes to an end.No Haaland no goals for Manchester City 👀Copenhagen 0-0 Manchester City in pictures ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/7rRjgIkOJW— Manchester City News (@ManCityMEN) October 11, 2022 A much-changed City side were put through the emotional wringer in the first half. Referee Artur Soares Dias was centre stage as the pitchside monitor was visited on three separate occasions, starting with a disallowed goal for the visitors. Rodri thought he had netted his first UCL goal after sending a rocket into the top corner, but a Riyad Mahrez handball in the build-up cruelly denied him.Following a long-range Lukas Lerager effort at the other end, VAR was in the thick of it again, this time awarding a penalty for a Nicolai Boilesen handball. Mahrez stepped up to take the spot-kick, but Kamil Grabara was equal to it, firmly pushing the ball away from danger. Just five minutes later, City’s tribulations continued when Sergio Gómez was sent off for hauling down Hákon Arnar Haraldsson when through on goal. The unfortunate Mahrez made way to accommodate for the dismissal, as Pep Guardiola was left with plenty to ponder for the rest of the match.Several chances on both ends were not enough for the score board to change. The draw marks almost half a year since the Cityzens haven’t scored (0-0 against Atletico Madrid in the previous’ campaign UCL quarter finals). It is kind of symptomatic that after 23 matches Man City haven’t scored and all that without Erling Haaland on the pitch.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – GROUP STAGERound 4Tuesday Maccabi Haifa – Juventus 2-0 (2-0)/Atzili 7, 42/Copenhagen – Man.City 0-022.00: (7.25) Shakhtar (4.40) Real Madrid (1.48)22.00: (1.56) Dortmund (4.40) Sevilla (6.75)22.00: (3.15) Milan (3.20) Chelsea (2.55)22.00: (1.50) PSG (4.60) Benfica (7.14)22.00: (3.30) Celtic (3.60) RB Leipzig (2.30)22.00: (2.95) Dinamo Zagreb (3.20) Salzburg (2.70)Wednesday 19.45: (1.65) Napoli (4.20) Ajax (5.90)19.45: (1.49) Atl.Madrid (4.30) Club Brugge (7.75)22.00: (2.55) Sporting (3.40) Olympique Marseille (3.00)22.00: (8.00) Rangers (5.30) Liverpool (1.43)22.00: (1.58) Tottenham (4.30) Eintr.Frankfurt (6.75)22.00: (2.35) Leverkusen (3.50) Porto (3.25)22.00: (1.48) Barcelona (4.70) Inter (8.00)22.00: (15.0) Plzen (8.50) Bayern (1.18)***odds are subject to change©FlashScore
