Juventus edged closer to the Champions League quarter-finals after second-half goals from the substitutes Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves earned them a 2-0 win at 10-man Porto in a one-sided last 16 first-leg tie on Wednesday.

Porto’s downfall was partly self-inflicted after the left-back Alex Telles received a red card in the 27th minute following two senseless bookings in the space of 70 seconds, leaving the home side to play over an hour against the Serie A leaders a man down.

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Despite holding Juventus at bay until the 72nd minute, Porto’s resolve was broken when Miguel Layun deflected Paulo Dybala’s pass into the path of Pjaca, who slammed a first-time effort past Iker Casillas.

Alves made sure of victory two minutes later when he controlled Alex Sandro’s cross with his chest before finishing calmly as Juventus, who are still in the Copa Italia, boosted their hopes of a maiden treble before the second leg in Turin on 14 March.

“We can be happy as it’s a really good result, but to be honest after the first-half red card, we had to win this game,” the Sami Khedira told BT Sport. “It’s absolutely not over. We’re happy with tonight but in three weeks we’ll need to be careful as Porto are angry and have nothing to lose.”

Juventus were expected to face a stern test in Portugal but they imposed themselves from the early stages and controlled the first half. Porto were content to remain deep and absorb pressure.

The visitors struggled to forge the clear openings that their dominance deserved, although the lively Dybala fashioned the best chance of the first half with a thumping effort from outside the box which grazed a post.

Telles’s minute or so of madness quashed any lingering Porto ambition and prompted their coach, Nuno Espérito Santo, to withdraw the striker Andre Silva – scorer of four Champions League goals this season – in response.

The Juve manager, Massimiliano Allegri, left out Leonardo Bonucci from the squad after the pair’s dispute during Friday’s victory over Palermo and while they were untested at the back, they missed the centre back’s creativity and probing long balls.

The breakthrough eventually came from the bench, as Allegri introduced Pjaca and Alves to offer dynamism and directness and the pair repaid him with goals to end Porto’s 20-game undefeated home streak.