TURIN: Juventus were stunned by a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at home to Galatasaray after virtually sealing victory with two late goals in another frustrating Champions League Group B clash on Wednesday.
Juventus dominated throughout but went in for the interval a goal down after Didier Drogba pounced on defensive lapses to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in what was Roberto Mancini's first match in charge of the Turkish champions.
As Mancini's men defended in numbers, they looked to be heading for a shock win until Arturo Vidal scored from the penalty spot on 78 minutes after Fabio Quagliarella fell under a soft challenge from Nourredine Amrabat.
Quagliarella then gave Juve a shock lead minutes later when he headed past Fernando Muslera from Andrea Pirlo's perfect delivery.
But as the celebrations began, the hosts were stunned when substitute Umut Bulut beat Gianluigi Buffon from close range after collecting Drogba's delivery as the Juventus defence proved conspicuously absent.
The result left Juventus, who drew 1-1 away to FC Copenhagen a fortnight ago, still winless with Galatasaray securing their first point under Mancini, only appointed on Monday, having been routed 6-1 at home by Real Madrid. "There wasn't a lot of time for me and so we went out with the idea of not giving them too much space," said the Italian on his first game in charge since his sacking by Manchester City in the wake of their FA Cup final defeat to Wigan. "The late penalty changed things a bit, Juve began attacking a little bit more towards the end but given the end result it was a positive night for us."
Given Juve's dominance throughout, Conte was at a loss to explain the defensive lapses that has put their campaign on a knife edge. "For the first goal we were unlucky. We conceded a goal when we were dominating the game and until then Galatasaray hadn't created too many chances," said Conte. "Of the two goals, the one that hurts most was the late equaliser. To concede a goal in the 87th minute always hurts, but that's football."
Drogba's opener came after he pounced on a wayward back pass from defender Leonardo Bonucci and coolly slotted the ball into a virtually empty net after Buffon had raced off his line in panic.
Until then it had been a cagey affair, although Tevez and Quagliarella, who had replaced injured striker Mirko Vucinic in the 26th minute, were both guilty of wasting chances.
Conte was forced to replace Swiss winger Stephan Lichsteiner with Mauricio Isla for the second half and he began to find space down the right.
The hosts had struggled to penetrate a Galatasaray side that was keeping numbers behind the ball and playing on the counter.
However Isla, with a superb rising volley, and Vidal, with a strike which sailed over the crossbar, raise spirits.
Still, sensing the danger, Conte sacrificed Bonucci for extra firepower, switching from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-1-2 to hand Fernando Llorente his Champions League debut.
The Spaniard immediately sent a bullet header a metre over from Kwadwo Asamoah's powerful delivery on 70 minutes.
But it was Quagliarella who offered concrete hope of a result, tumbling under a soft challenge to allow Vidal to step up and beat Muslera with a powerful drive from the spot.
The goal sparked Juve into life and they were rewarded when Pirlo turned on the magic to cross for Quagliarella, who headed past Muslera from close range.
Just as some of the home fans began to leave the stadium convinced the match was won, Galatasaray pounced on another Juventus blunder to stun their hosts with a late equaliser.
Juve's defence was nowhere to be seen when Galatasaray broke on the counter and Drogba delivered for the unmarked Bulut who beat Buffon easily from close range.
Juve rallied and Llorente was unlucky to see a first-time effort from close in go just wide of the post. (AFP)
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