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Juventus defeat 10-man Nantes 3-0 to advance into the Europa League round of 16 thanks to a Di Maria hattrick
Juventus have advanced to the Europa League round of 16 thanks to a 3-0 win away at Nantes inspired by Argentine forward Angel Di Maria.
The Old Lady overcame a disappointing first-leg result where they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Nantes to now qualify with an emphatic result away in France.
Di Maria was the star of the show as the Argentine recorded his first hattrick in Juventus colours to inspire the win away in France and knock Moses Simon and Nantes out in the process.
Nantes 0-3 Juventus
Massimiliano Allegri's men were keen to make up for the disappointment of the first leg from a week ago so they started on the front foot which paid off early on.
Di Maria curled home a goal-of-the-week contender from the edge of the box after just five minutes of play to signal Juve's intent and put them in front.
Little did Nantes know that the Argentine wizard was just getting warmed up as he caused further trouble in the 18th minute when his goal-bound backheel was blocked by Nicolas Pallois' hand, resulting in both a Juventus penalty and a straight red card for the Frenchman.
Di Maria stepped up and dispatched the penalty with characteristic precision to double Juventus' lead and his own tally after just 20 minutes.
The home side now a man down faced an uphill battle which proved impossible to surmount as Juventus took full advantage of the extra man, Filip Kostic struck the bar on the stroke of halftime.
The second followed the same pattern as Juventus dominated and Nantes did their best to stop the bleeding with goalkeeper Alban Lafont making multiple great saves to keep the scoreline respectable.
Lafont could do nothing about Di Maria's third though as the Argentine headed home from close range to seal his hattrick and Juventus' place in the Europa League round of 16.
Quiet night for Moses Simon
Nigerian winger Moses Simon started the game and played 73 minutes in what was a forgettable night from his perspective as he was played as a left wingback.
Simon touched the ball 38 times but failed to record a single clearance, block, interception or tackle nor did he complete any of his three attempted crosses.
The 27-year-old was also involved in six ground duels all of which he lost including getting dispossessed 11 times before he was substituted off in the 73rd minute for Mostafa Mohamed.
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