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23.08.2021 » Udinese 2-2 Juventus. Ronaldo's goal was disallowed in added time
The Serie A action is finally back and we didn't have to wait too long to witness a few surprising results. The reigning champions, Inter Milan, may have easily secured a 4-0 win against Genoa, but on the other hand, Juventus already dropped 2 points after drawing 2-2 against Udinese at the Dacia Arena. This match was broadcasted by TLN and CBS Sports Network on pay television in Canada, so for those looking to watch Ronaldo and place some bets in Canadian soil in a near future, you can already look for information on the new betting laws in Canada on a few selected sites. The Bianconeri grabbed a 2-goal lead before the half-time break, but then allowed the hosts to react and level things up during the second half. Cristiano Ronaldo, who started on the bench, joined the game in the 60th minute and still celebrated the winning goal near the end. However, an anti-climax VAR call forced the referee to disallow Cristiano's goal and the two teams had to settle for a single point each.
Udinese 2-2 Juventus - Goals and highlights:
Surprises in Juve's first XI
No matter how we look at it, Cristiano Ronaldo was under the spotlight both on and off the pitch this Sunday evening. Juventus were about to make their debut in the Serie A in a difficult trip to Udine, when the club announced a quite surprising starting eleven. In his first game at the helm of Juventus this season, Massimiliano Allegri had decided to sit Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and play with Álvaro Morata and Dybala upfront.
With all the recent rumors about Ronaldo leaving Turin this summer, seeing him on Juventus' bench in the first game of the season somehow reignited all those theories and possibilities. It's true both Ronaldo and the club already confirmed nothing will change in the upcoming months, but this wouldn't be the first time that public claims turned out to be a smoke curtain for backstage moves.
A strong start!
In Udine, the Vecchia Signora reached the opening goal very early in the first half, when Paulo Dybala finished off a low cross from Bentancur to give his side the very first lead of the season. After a quite disappointing campaign last season, the Argentine star hopes to live up to the expectations this year and theres's no better way to do that than by scoring goals and assisting his teammates.
The second Bianconeri's goal was scored by Cuadrado in the 23rd minute, and once again, Dybala was involved in the play. The Argentina found his Colombian teammate with plenty of space to explore in a fast counter-attack and once he allowed him to go 1-on-1 against a defender, we all know how dangerous Cuadrado can be. The former Chelsea player left his opponent behind and picked the far corner to put Juventus two goals up before the break. At the time, it didn't seem Udinese was capable of getting back in the game...
A different game in the 2nd half...
The second half showed us a quite different game, as the hosts finally woke up and managed to push Juventus back. Nevertheless, they would only score their first goal in this game when Szczesny committed couple mistakes in the same play. The Polish goalkeeper blocked a shot recklessly and then mistimed his tackle as he attempted to clear the danger. As a result, he ended up tripping Arslan inside the box and allowed the hosts to earn a penalty-kick. Roberto Pereyra stepped up to the plate and easily converted it to reduce Juve's lead to a single goal.
The unthinkable happened in the 83rd minute, when Szczesny was caught sleeping on the pitch for the second time on the evening and basically delivered the opponent another easy goal. The 31-year goalkeeper lost possession inside the penalty box and once the ball landed on Deulofeu's feet, the Spaniard didn't hesitate to hit the back of the net and equalize the game at 2-2.
With Ronaldo already on the pitch, Juventus charged with everything they had in the remaining minutes of the game and they would eventually score what would have been the winning goal. A Chiesa cross found Ronaldo's head in the far post and the Portuguese striker beat Udinese's goalkeeper with a great header. Unfortunately for Ronaldo and the Vecchia Signora, the VAR intervened to call it offside and the draw would remain unchanged until the referee's final whistle.
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus is on August 21, against Udinese. You can watch Juventus vs Empoli, Hellas vs Inter, PSV vs Benfica, Manchester City vs Arsenal, West Ham vs Leicester City, and Sampdoria vs AC Milan, all matches provided from our soccer streaming game pages.
Juventus next game:
Juventus vs Empoli kick-off time (28-08-2021):
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: 15:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 14:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 11:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / beinsports.com
