Porto 0-2 Juventus: Substitutes give Old Lady control of last-16 tie

Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves both came off the bench to score as Juventus beat 10-man Porto 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash at the Dragao on Wednesday.

The home side were made to pay for Alex Telles' needless dismissal midway through the first half after the Brazilian was given two yellow cards in less than two minutes.

Juve then took control of proceedings, although they had to wait until the 72nd minute to take the lead through Pjaca's first-ever goal for the club, before fellow substitute Dani Alves doubled their lead two minutes later.

And that result has put Max Allegri's side in total control of the tie heading into the return leg in Turin in three weeks' time.

The visitors were missing experienced centre-back Leonardo Bonucci after the Italy international was suspended following a heated dispute with Allegri.

However, that loss was offset by the return to fitness of defensive duo Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli, who both started after recovering from thigh injuries.

The first half was a cagey affair, made even more so after Telles's 27th-minute dismissal following two yellow cards in the space of just 74 seconds.

The left back's first caution came after a reckless tackle from behind on Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado for which the player could conceivably have been dismissed for.

Incredibly, though, Telles immediately then lunged into another dangerous challenge on Stephan Lichtsteiner, leaving German referee Dr. Felix Brych with no alternative but to send the player off.

However, despite dominating possession and territory for the remainder of the half, the closest the Old Lady came to actually scoring was in injury time when Paulo Dybala unleashed a venomous shot from the edge of the area that beat Iker Casillas, only to clip the outside of the post.

In fact, Nuno Espirito Santo's team appeared comfortable defending deep and getting men behind the ball, with Casillas only called upon to make a smart reaction save to keep out 22-goal striker Gonzalo Higuain's deflected shot.

But just as it seemed as though Porto would extend their 22-game unbeaten run, Juve finally made the breakthrough after 72 minutes, although Pjaca's strike had a slice of fortune about it.

The ball fell invitingly at the Croatia international's feet thanks to a deflection off former Watford left-back Miguel Layun, who came on in the first-half reshuffle following Telles's red card.

Having said that, the winger still did well to drill a low shot past Casillas and into the bottom left corner of the net, and within minutes Juventus had added a second via another substitute.

Dani Alves had only been on the pitch for 80 seconds when he chested down Alex Sandro's deep cross from the left, with the right back then keeping his cool at the far post to fire past Casillas.

The Bianconeri's win was their eighth in a row, and given their imperious record at the Juventus Stadium, this tie already looks to be out of Porto's reach.