Adrien Rabiot scored twice and Angel Di Maria claimed three assists as Juventus clinched a vital Champions League win over Maccabi Haifa.
Adrien Rabiot’s brace helped Juventus to a much-needed 3-1 win over Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, boosting their hopes of progressing from Group H.
The Bianconeri edged closer to a must-win game after back-to-back European defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica, hitting the front with Rabiot’s powerful first-half finish.
Angel Di Maria shone with a hat-trick of assists, including a superb pass to set up Dusan Vlahovic to double Juventus’ lead shortly after the break.
Juventus came under pressure after Dean David came through to reduce the arrears, but Rabiot’s late header secured the points and eased the pressure on Massimiliano Allegri.
Vlahovic twice went close as Juventus started strongly, seeing a well-placed strike deflected by Matt Cohen before curling a poor effort wide of Filip Kostic’s cut.
Maccabi posed a threat on the break throughout the first half, leading to jeers from a nervous home crowd, but the Bianconeri came through when Rabiot pounced on Di Maria’s pass and fired into the roof of the net 10 minutes before the break.
Di Maria was involved again as Juventus extended their lead five minutes after half-time when he picked out Vlahovic with a sublime off-foot pass before the Serbian slotted into the bottom right corner.
Omer Atzili hit the post with his foot as Maccabi refused to go down without a fight, before Vlahovic was denied double offside after converting another Di Maria pass.
David provided a thrilling finish when he rounded Wojciech Szczesny to give Maccabi hope with 15 minutes remaining, but Rabiot had the final say, sealing victory for Juventus by nodding in Di Maria’s corner eight minutes later.
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