Johnson rewards City's endeavour

Manchester City 1 Juventus 1:IT IS probably a measure of how far Manchester City have come, and the new sense of ambition that comes from being bankrolled by some of the richest men on earth, that they should regard a home draw against Juventus, one of the great names of European football, as cause for disappointment.

The modern-day City are no longer fazed by the presence of authentic greats such as Alessandro Del Piero and they will regret the fact they did not have the creativity in attack to create more problems for a typically resolute Juventus defence after recovering from the early setback of Vincenzo Iaquinta opening the scoring.

As it was, they had to make do with an equaliser from Adam Johnson, set up brilliantly by Yaya Toure, to make it 1-1 after 37 minutes. The home side were marginally the more incisive team thereafter but it was a second half of few chances.

Juventus were always going to provide the most difficult assignments in Group A, but it was still a considerable surprise how the team from Serie A controlled the opening exchanges.

The Italians looked a cut above in the early part of the match, playing with poise and purpose and thoroughly deserving their 10th-minute lead courtesy of a goal that had Roberto Mancini dragging his fingers down his face in frustration.

This was Jerome Boateng’s first start since signing from Hamburg for €12 million in the summer and his was the first mistake, the Germany international standing off Iaquinta when the striker gathered the ball on the inside-left channel. Iaquinta improved the angle for shooting and aimed a diagonal, right-foot effort towards the bottom left-hand corner of Joe Hart’s goal.

The shot was dipping and awkward but Hart really ought to have done better, diving late and allowing the ball to go beneath his left arm, as though it had caught him by surprise. It was a poor moment for the England international, exacerbated by the presence of Fabio Capello in the Colin Bell stand.

Buoyed by the early breakthrough, Juventus resorted to ploys of containment, defending in numbers and with organisation, and there was plenty more to frustrate Mancini in the opening half an hour, with little of the control that had been evident in the defeat of Chelsea last weekend.

When City did finally work up a head of steam, however, they quickly discovered that the Italians’ defence could be penetrated.

After 33 minutes Gareth Barry applied the merest of touches to Carlos Tevez’s cross to flick the ball on to a post. Johnson could not turn the rebound beyond the goalkeeper, Alex Manninger, but the pressure was building and within three minutes the winger had brought the game level.

Yaya Toure showed vision and technique to play a wonderfully measured pass through the Juventus defence to leave Johnson running into the penalty area and he duly prodded his shot past goalkeeper Manninger.

The impetus was with City at the start of the second half. Tevez, for long spells on the left to accommodate Emmanuel Adebayor, was prominently involved. Barry continued his impressive recent form, Johnson offered width and penetration and the recalled Adebayor showed a willingness to work.

The disappointment for Mancini was that his side were unable to create a single clear opportunity after the interval. Juventus, too, offered little, though Del Piero nearly won the game in spectacular fashion five minutes from the end with a thunderous free-kick that beat Hart only to ricochet off the underside of the crossbar and on to the goal-line.

• Guardian Service

MANCHESTER CITY:Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta (Boyata 46), Adebayor (Silva 73), Adam Johnson, Boateng (Milner 84), Barry, Vieira, Toure, Tevez, Toure Yaya. Subs not used: Given, Lescott, Jo, De Jong. Booked: Barry.

JUVENTUS:Manninger, Chiellini, Sissoko, Marchisio, Iaquinta, Del Piero, Bonucci, Grygera, Martinez (Pepe 54), Krasic (Felipe Melo 75), De Ceglie (Motta 72). Subs not used: Storari, Lanzafame, Legrottaglie, Giannetti. Booked: Krasic, Grygera.

Referee:E Iturralde Gonzalez (Spain).