Juventus women secured a comfortable victory over St. Pölten at the Voithplatz on Wednesday evening, winning 3-0 in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Women's Champions League. The Italian side took control early and never looked back, while the Austrian hosts were unable to mount any meaningful resistance against a superior opponent.
Tatiana Pinto opened the scoring in the eighth minute, a reminder that cup football has its own rules and the favourite does not always wait to be patient. She showed her class in the box, finishing cleanly to give Juventus the lead they would build on throughout the afternoon.
Martina Rosucci doubled the advantage just before half-time with a well-taken goal in the 38th minute. St. Pölten had dug in defensively but could not maintain their shape for long, and the visitors punished them when the opportunity presented itself.
Juventus then rotated their squad heavily, bringing on Julia Bartel, Diana Lemešová, Fanny Vágó, Estela Carbonell, Remina Chiba, Martina Lenzini, Ľudmila Matavková, Alba Redondo, Alma Aagaard and Izabela Križaj across the second half. Pinto added a second goal in the 80th minute to set up a clean sweep, while Danique Noordman picked up a yellow card in the 79th minute for a late challenge.
The statistics told the full story of a one-sided contest. Juventus registered 103 attacks compared to St. Pölten's 47, and their shots accuracy of 0.5 versus 0.4 reflected the difference in quality. The hosts managed only two shots on target all match, while the visitors hit the target five times.
The result moves Juventus into the next round of the competition, while St. Pölten's European campaign comes to a premature end. The Austrian side had shown promise in recent domestic form, but the gap between leagues proved insurmountable on this occasion.
