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31.08.2019 » Juventus 4-3 Napoli. Ronaldo scores in a crazy game in Turin
An early Scudetto showdown was certainly not disappointing, with Juventus managing to pull off a 4-3 victory despite a somewhat surprising comeback effort by Napoli. Maurizio Sarri was present at the Allianz Stadium, but he couldn't feature on the touchline due to a bout of pneumonia. Captain Giorgio Chiellini torn his ACL during a training session earlier this week that will see him out for six months, allowing Matthijs de Ligt to make his Serie A debut. It was Cristiano Ronaldo's left-footed shot that had the first impact in the game, but it was saved by Alex Meret's gloves. Nevertheless and a few moments later, Allan's screamer was stopped by Wojciech Szczesny, which turned out to be essential. The action was just about to start...
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Juventus vs Napoli
Juventus 4-3 Napoli - Goals and highlights:
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A strong first half from Juventus
Juventus began to gain momentum and started to dominate the ball with fluent passing accuracy that made life difficult for Ancelotti's Napoli. Mattia De Sciglio muscular injury made way for new signing Danilo, who instantly read the counter attack on the pitch and scored 26 seconds later with his first ever touch in a Juventus shirt.
Three minutes later, former Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain added another to the net, with an excellent piece of touch between three opponent defenders, and blasting into the far top corner in the 19th minute of the game.
Juve could have scored a third just before half time, as Sami Khedira went with a curler that bounced off the crossbar and gave Napoli a breather. However, it was the second half that stunned the world.
Right after the second half, Napoli began to gain their possession, but it was Cristiano Ronaldo's blend of a strike on the bottom left corner of the net from 12 yards out that put Sarri's men in a great place of comfort with about half an hour to go.
The Portuguese was up to his usual tricks, nutmegging defenders before bagging his sides' third goal, and looked fresh and ready for the up-coming season.
A comeback that almost stunned the bianconeri
At this point, it was all Juventus dominating and being the most clinical amongst the team. The final thirty minutes of the match is what changed the dynamic and drama of the game of the season already.
At the 66th minute, Kostas Manolas header put one behind goalkeeper Szczesny that started to give Napoli some hope for a comeback. Two minutes later, the away team reduced the score-line deficit through a strike by Hirving Lozano, thanks to Piotr Zielinski's clinical pass.
The entire complex of the game switched towards Napoli making a statement within a space of just two minutes, as Juve looked for answers in their own backline. The Turin side looked shell shocked as the visitors pushed for a winner but in the end, it would be heartbreak for the side in blue.
Napoli began to silence the home side, but it was their goalkeeper Meret who flew to fingertip a Douglas Costa scorcher on to the crossbar, to put them on track of an incredible comeback.
However, it was another set-piece that came into Napoli's favour when Zielinski put another free kick across the six-yard box and Mexican Lorenzo got in front of De Ligt to bundle it over the line with his thigh.
The entire stadium went into silent mode after Napoli made it three, completing an impressive comeback and interestingly, all three Napoli goals were scored by their summer signings.
However, the twist of the game doesn't end there, as the most reliable player of Napoli's team made the biggest blunder that came out of nowhere.
Just two minutes left from the match, Douglas Costa went for what would have been Juventus final chance to make something productive out of it and it was highly-rated defender Koulibaly who went to clear the ball, but shinned the ball backwards to put into the top corner of his own net.
Ironic how the Senegal international was the one who scored the stoppage-time winner in April 2018, but ended up gifting Juve the three points same minute this time.
One thing is for sure, Juventus finally have competiton to be aware of from a team like Napoli this domestic season, and Sarri will have to grab attention at the negatives from the Serie A champions to having a successful campaign this term. Serie A just became interesting, thanks to such an early Scudetto showdown.
Juventus line-up vs Napoli:
Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: Alex Sandro, Bonucci, De Ligt, De Sciglio
Midfielders: Matuidi, Pjanic, Khedira
Attackers: Douglas Costa, Higuaín, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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|---|---|---|
Juventus
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vs
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Napoli
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4 |
Goals |
3 |
12 |
Shots |
15 |
7 |
Shots on goal |
7 |
2 |
Corner kicks |
5 |
13 |
Fouls commited |
13 |
3 |
Yellow cards |
3 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
44% |
Ball possession |
56% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Portugal for the EURO 2020 qualifiers against Serbia. You can watch Serbia vs Portugal, Udinese vs AC Milan, Barcelona vs Betis, AFC Bournemouth vs Manchester City, Tottenham vs Newcastle, and Wolverhampton vs Burnley, all matches provided from our footy live game pages.
Portugal next game:
Serbia vs Portugal kick-off time (07-09-2019):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 02:45
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 01:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:15
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+2: 20:45
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 13:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 12:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 09:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / football-italia.net / bbc.com
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