AFP, Melbourne :
Italian champions Juventus scored two early goals and held off a strong finish to down Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the International Champions Cup in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The Turin giants, who won a fifth consecutive Serie A championship this season, struck early through Paulo Dybala and Medhi Benatia to lead 2-0 at half-time.
Argentinian star Erik Lamela sparked a Spurs comeback when he came on for the second half, scoring a goal and almost grabbing another.
“It was a good test against one of the toughest teams in next season’s Champions League,” said Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri.
Spurs paid dearly early on for failing to clear the ball when defender Dominic Ball lost possession and Roberto Pereyra picked out fellow Argentinian Dybala.
Dybala went one-on-one with Dutch goalkeeper Michel Vorm and found the bottom corner in just the sixth minute.
The Spurs defenders were punished again when they failed to clear a corner and Moroccan Benatia headed home eight minutes later.
New Juventus signing Miralem Pjanic should have made it three early in the second half when he was released by Brazilian Hernanes, but he blazed his shot over the bar.
