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A second half-header from Giorgio Chiellini handed Juventus their first Champions League win of the campaign as they beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 in Turin.

The Italians missed a host of good chances in the first half to take the lead but finally broke the deadlock two minutes after the break when Chiellini rose unchallenged to head home.

The Israelis, who were reduced to 10 men when substitute Tiago Dutra was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Chiellini midway through the second half, had several chances to draw themselves level.

But Italy keeper Gianluigi Buffon made a string of superb stops to keep the visitors at bay.

The game got off to an explosive start with the Israelis bursting out of the blocks and almost taking the lead with two minutes on the clock.

The hosts had Buffon to thank for keeping the scores level as the keeper pulled off a stunning save to keep out Vladimer Dvalishvili's close-range header.

But this proved to be an isolated attack and a momentary blip in the one-way traffic that quickly developed.

Juve grasped the nettle and the upper hand, keeping possession for large swathes of the opening period and restricting the visitors to brief forays into their half.

Their possession was rewarded with a succession of good chances that went begging one after another.

First Fabio Grosso fired in a bullet of a free-kick which was parried to safety by Maccabi keeper Nir Davidovitch before David Trezeguet stole a yard on his marker before steering his finish wide from six yards.

And as the half drew to a close, man-mountain midfielder Mohamed Sissoko headed a cross from Mauro Camoronesi a foot wide of the target, Grosso had an effort from 10 yards out charged down and Diego skimmed the post with a free-kick from the edge of the area.

But the hosts' dominance was quickly rewarded after the break as Maccabi's resolute defence finally gave way to allow Chiellini to head a free-kick from Diego powerfully past Davidovitch.

The floodgates threatened to open as Juve contrived to waste a string of further chances with Trezeguet guilty of passing up the best of them. The striker got on the end of a cross from Grosso, but his close-range effort was straight at Davidovitch who parried to safety.

Dutra was given his marching orders for a tackle that left Chiellini wincing in pain on the floor, having just five minutes earlier ended Felipe Melo's game with arguably a worse challenge.

But the sending off seemed to breath new life into the visitors who twice went close to snatching a draw late-on.

Buffon was at full stretch keep out a shot from Dvalishvili with 10 minutes remaining and was again called into action in stoppage time to keep out a stinging effort from Mohammad Ghadir.

Toby Davis / Eurosport