Soccer-Villa held to 0-0 draw by depleted Juventus
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By Lori Ewing
BIRMINGHAM, England, Nov 27 (Reuters) -Aston Villa had to settle for a 0-0 draw against depleted Juventusin the Champions League on Wednesday after a last-gasp effort by Morgan Rogers was chalked off for a foul on Juventus keeper Michele Di Gregorio.
Villa thought they had won it at the death when Di Gregorio failed to catch a free kick, but Diego Carlos fouled the Juventus keeper as Rogers was lashing the ball into the net, and boos poured out from the homefans after the final whistle.
"It was the interpretation of the referee, only the interpretation," Villa manager Unai Emery told reporters. "For me, of course (the call was harsh), here in England, I know usually not fault because it was very soft contact. And in Europe, could be fault."
The match was far from a classic, with Juventus seemingly content to keep possession, and both sides squandered chances, with Villa's best coming from Lucas Digne who hammered a free kick off the crossbar seconds before halftime.
Midway through the second half, Francisco Conceicao's short-range headerfrom a corner looked destined for the back of Villa's net but their World Cup-winning goalkeeperEmi Martinez divedto gethis fingertips to the ball. Television replays showed a mere sliver of the ball failed to cross the goalline.
Villa captain John McGinn almost gave the home side the lead when he latched on to a pass from Leon Bailey in the 70th minute, but the Scotland international's shot was blocked by Manuel Locatelli.
"We were closer than them to winning the match," Emery said. "They're very difficult to beat but we created a plan. There weren't many clear chances for either team."
Emery's team, who started theirChampions League campaign with three victories and three clean sheets, are ninth in the table after five games.
Victory would have been a big confidence boost for the home side, who have not won since their 2-0 Champions League victory over Bologna on Oct. 22 and have slipped to eighth in the Premier League table with one win in their last five games.
TheirItalian visitors, who are unbeaten in Serie A this season but had only14 outfield players available on Wednesday, are 19th in the 36-team table. The top eight after eight matches qualify automatically for the last 16, with the next 16 sides entering a two-leg playoff to try to join them.
"We always want to win, we have three games to qualify," Juve manager Thiago Motta said. "An important moment, where we have to play every game to the maximum as we did today."
Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond
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