Angel Di Maria delivers for Juventus again in slim Freiburg win

Angel Di Maria continued his fine form as Juventus beat Freiburg 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 on Thursday night.

Di Maria scored the decisive winner as a dominant Juventus only managed just a narrow win over their visitors Freiburg heading into the second leg.

After his hat-trick against Nantes sent the Old Lady into the round of 16, the 35-year-old World Cup winner proved invaluable to the Italians with another match-winning goal.

Di Maria was the standout player on the pitch for the Old Lady as he created six chances, the most of any player, made six key passes and completed seven take-ons, also the most of any player in the game, in addition to his goal.

He has now scored four goals in his last two matches in the Europa League for Juventus.

In what was expected to be a potential banana peel as reported by Pulse Sports Nigeria, Juventus dominated the encounter in Turin from start to finish with Freiburg avoiding a major hammer on the night.

Maximiliano Allegri’s men attempted 20 shots at Freiburg’s goal inside the Allianz Stadium but needed a second-half header from Di Maria to subdue the visitors.

With the win, Juventus put an end to Frieburg’s five-match unbeaten run and also bounced back from the defeat to AS Roma in the Serie A over the weekend.