Manchester City were plunged further into crisis after falling to a 2-0 defeat at Juventus in the Champions League.
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Second-half goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie were enough for Juve to inflict a seventh defeat in 10 matches on Pep Guardiola’s struggling City who risk not reaching the last 16.
English champions City languish in 22nd place in Europe’s top club competition after having collected just eight points from their six matches in the revamped league phase.
That leaves City just one point above the bottom 12 places and elimination, with matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge remaining, a position that would have been unthinkable at the start of the season.
But City have unravelled in less than six weeks and are way off the pace both in the Premier League and Champions League thanks to just one win, over Nottingham Forest, since the end of October.
Vlahovic’s header, his 10th goal of the season, and substitute McKennie’s fine volley with 15 minutes remaining also snapped a frustrating four-match run of draws for Juventus and brightened the mood among fans who have been disappointed with Thiago Motta’s opening few months as coach.
Juve had drawn 11 of their 20 matches in all competitions coming into Wednesday’s match, but a rugged display moved them up to 11 points and ended with fans roaring with joy and colouring the stands of the Allianz Stadium with flag waving.
Motta’s team are level with fellow Serie A outfit Atalanta and two points from the top eight positions which give direct access to the last 16.
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**SAKA SOARS AS ARSENAL BREEZE PAST MONACO**
Bukayo Saka’s double fired Arsenal a step closer to the Champions League last 16 as the England forward inspired a 3-0 win against Monaco.
Saka netted late in each half and Kai Havertz struck in the closing minutes at the Emirates Stadium to lift Mikel Arteta’s side into third place in the revamped league phase.
The Gunners have won four of their six European games this term and, with two matches remaining, they control their destiny in the race for the top-eight finish that guarantees automatic progress to the last 16.
Clubs that finish ninth to 24th in the 36-team first phase face a play-off to determine if they will advance.
With games against Dinamo Zagreb and Girona to come in January, the north Londoners will be confident of avoiding that unwanted obstacle.
After a damaging 1-1 draw against Fulham in the Premier League last weekend, Arsenal’s fifth win in their last six games in all competitions was a welcome tonic.
Bukayo Saka celebrates. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)Source: AFP
With Arsenal’s defensive injury crisis showing no signs of abating, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu were all absent.
That meant Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey started out of position at right-back despite missing training on Wednesday.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, came in at left-back for just his second Arsenal start, with his other coming in the League Cup against third-tier Bolton.
The youngest player to start a Champions League match for Arsenal since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011, Lewis-Skelly rose to the occasion with a composed display.
In contrast, Gabriel Jesus has gone 32 games without a goal for Arsenal and the Brazilian’s lack of confidence was clear in the hosts’ first dangerous attack.
Picked out by Gabriel Martinelli’s pass, Jesus should have hit the target but could only muster a tame shot straight at Monaco keeper Radoslaw Majecki.
Jesus failed to time his run well enough to reach Mikel Merino’s teasing cross moments later.
Aleksandr Golovin nearly caught out Arsenal keeper David Raya with a long-range strike that fizzed just past the far post.
Jesus’ travails showed no signs of ending as a raking long pass sent him clean through for a low shot that was too close to Majecki.
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The 27-year-old was having a torrid time and, teed up by Martinelli, again he couldn’t beat Majecki with a close-range effort that drew a fine save from the ‘keeper.
But Jesus’ clever movement was at least causing Monaco problems and he played a key role in Arsenal’s 34th-minute opener.
Lewis-Skelly slipped a superb pass to Jesus, who ran in behind the Monaco defence and delivered a low cross that presented Saka with a simple tap-in for his fourth goal in his last six games.
Martin Odegaard squandered a golden opportunity to double Arsenal’s lead just before half-time as he robbed Soungoutou Magassa, but fired wide with only Majecki to beat.
Thilo Kehrer should have made Arsenal pay for their profligacy early in the second half, but his header flashed wide from 10 yards.
Arteta’s men lost concentration for a long period after the break and Takumi Minamino tested Raya before Breel Embolo drilled inches wide following sloppy defending from William Saliba.
But Arsenal emerged unscathed and wrapped up the points in the 78th minute. Majecki didn’t clear his lines quickly enough when Havertz put the ‘keeper under pressure, allowing Saka to steer his shot into the empty net from close range.
There was still time for Arsenal to put further gloss on the scoreline in the 88th minute as Havertz turned in Saka’s shot.
**BARCELONA DEFEATS DORTMUND TO REACH KNOCKOUTS**
Substitute Ferran Torres struck twice in 10 minutes to earn Barcelona a 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund and seal their place in the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona on 53 minutes in Germany, latching onto a Dani Olmo pass on the counter, but Serhou Guirassy equalised seven minutes later from the penalty spot.
Torres, who replaced the ineffective former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, tapped in a rebound with 15 minutes to play only for Guirassy to again haul Dortmund level.
With the hosts pushing for a first ever victory over Barcelona on their fifth attempt, Lamine Yamal fed Torres on a fast break and the winger drilled the ball past Gregor Kobel.
The win ensured Barcelona will reach at least the playoffs while putting them in pole position for a top-eight berth and direct qualification for the last 16.
Dortmund suffered their first loss at home in all competitions this season, sliding down to ninth in the Champions League table.
Beset by injuries, Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin named a surprise starting XI, opting for pace and youth to try and catch out Hansi Flick’s high-risk, high-reward visitors.
Sahin handed Julien Duranville, 18, a starting debut while Gio Reyna started for the first time this season.
Raphinha caused Dortmund problems early and was inches away from a tap in before he blasted just wide with an open goal beckoning moments later.
When Dortmund did make it out of their own half, they did so through the fleet-footed Duranville, who found Marcel Sabitzer in a crowded penalty box but he blazed over.
The visitors’ high defensive line was a pre-game target for Dortmund but the hosts were caught out early in the second half when Olmo put Raphinha in acres of space, allowing the captain to calmly dribble goalwards and slot a low shot home.
Pau Cubarsi gave Dortmund a sniff shortly after Barcelona took the lead, pushing Guirassy to the turf in the box and giving away an unnecessary penalty, which the Guinean converted.
Dortmund began played with renewed confidence but Barcelona struck on the counter, Torres slotting in a rebound after Kobel parried Fermin Lopez’s volley.
The lead lasted three minutes as Yan Couto spotted an on-rushing Pascal Gross, with the former Brighton midfielder passing to Guirassy who rolled into an empty net after Inaki Pena came charging out of his area.
Barcelona snatched their fifth win in six games in Europe though as Yamal played in Torres, who atoned for a poor first touch by hammering low into the corner five minutes from time.
**THURSDAY’S OTHER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RESULTS**
Atletico Madrid 3 (Alvarez 16, Griezmann 42, 57) def. Slovan Bratislava 1 (Strelec 51-pen)
Lille 3 (Sahraoui 37, Bakker 45+2, Haraldsson 81) def. Sturm Graz 2 (Kiteishvili 45+4, Biereth 47)
AC Milan 2 (Leao 42, Abraham 87) def. Red Star Belgrade 1 (Radonjic 67)
Arsenal 3 (Saka 34, 78, Havertz 88) def. Monaco 0
Benfica 0 drew with Bologna 0
Feyenoord 4 (Trauner 8, Paixao 10, Moussa 30, Gimenez 63) def. Sparta Prague 2 (Rrahmani 43, Beelen 79-og)
Juventus 2 (Vlahovic 53, McKennie 75) def. Manchester City 0
Stuttgart 5 (Stiller 25, Millot 53, Fuehrich 61, Vagnoman 66, Keitel 76) def. Young Boys 1 (Lakomy 6)