Chievo 2-3 Juventus
There’s no better way to start the Serie A season than this!
Many expected Cristiano Ronaldo, the man meant to break Serie A 2018 odds, to enthral the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi with lightning-quick attacks and his hard-to-miss swagger. It wouldn’t be weird to say if the entire country was fixated on what was happening inside this stadium.
Many weren’t disappointed when the game turned out to be a firecracker of a match. Ronaldo showed why he is worth nine figures of cash, Juventus showcased their quality, and Chievo showed their resiliency against such a gargantuan opponent.
This game will surely be on every Serie A 2018 news page as it is the game where Cristiano smiled the first of hopefully many bright grins.
Highlights of the game
While fans didn’t get to see World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi play in this game, it didn’t take long for the Bianconeri faithful who made the trip to Chievo start celebrating Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival to the Italian top flight.
Juventus started their first attack with a lot of pace and ferocity. Chievo were instantly caught off-guard with the speed of Juve’s attacks and forced to commit a foul in a rather dangerous area. The free kick was instantly sent to the box and caused a scramble for the ball. Sami Khedira, Ronaldo’s former team-mate at Real Madrid, caught the rebound and smashed into the goal.
After the stunning goal, the Old Lady kept up the attack on the already-disadvantaged Chievo. They kept hold of the possession, made plays down the wings, always threatening to make things difficult with a second goal.
Chievo disregarded the first goal they conceded and played their game plan. Whenever the ball ends up deep in Juventus territory, most of the attackers and midfielders would rush to get the ball from the visitors in an attempt to force a numbers game.
However, it is that very same tactic that saw their rear exposed to possible counters, and that was something Juventus tried a good number of times. Douglas Costa brought the ball up from one such instance and whips the ball in for Joao Cancelo to unsuccessfully finish.
Ronaldo also had a shot to impress the many Serie A fans who decided to watch this game in the 18th minute. Juan Cuadrado found the Portugal captain with enough space to try a shot to challenge Stefano Sorrentino. However, the Chievo keeper was left unchallenged as he watched the ball fly past the post.
Costa, Alex Sandro, and Paulo Dybala tried to double the lead and put a comfortable cushion between them and their opponents. However, the persistent I Gialloblu defence made sure that they will at least make scoring difficult for the Bianconeri.
Their persistence eventually paid off when they erased Juventus’ lead in the 38th minute. Emanuele Giaccherini fired a beautiful cross from the left. Mariusz Stepinski headed the ball to the top left, much to keeper Wojciech Szczesny’s surprise. Juventus tried to wrestle the advantage back in their favour, but the first half ended with both teams on equal grounds.
The second half started similarly to what happened in the first half. Ronaldo tried a long-range effort at the start of the half in an attempt to give them back the lead. Juventus tried doing everything they can in order to take the lead.
However, it was Juventus that conceded the second goal. Joao Cancelo made a rough foul just inside the penalty area. Emanuele Giaccherini stepped up to the spot and took the game-leading goal for Chievo.
It was at this point that Ronaldo and Juventus stepped up the ante. A lot of the Old Lady’s attacks came in from the left. Chievo could barely find room to breathe as they tried to stop Ronaldo from doing what he does best and cling on to their one-goal lead. Mario Mandzukic had a great chance gifted to him by CR7, but his header drifted just wide off the post.
Juve eventually equalised thanks to another set play. Federico Brenardeschi whipped in a corner into the box, and Mattia Bani, unfortunately, heads the goal into this own net. It was from this point onward that the game swung towards Juventus’ favour.
Ronaldo unleashed a beautiful free-kick that was saved by Sorrentino. He also whipped in a pass into the box that was eventually warded off. He was also involved in a nail-biting incident. Juventus managed to get the ball into the back of the goal after a rough scuffle in the box.
It was then that fans were suddenly taken to a wild ride. Sorrentino caught the knee of Ronaldo and was unconscious for a minute or two. In the chaos, the referee checked the VAR and invalidated the goal due to a handball. Sorrentino got off the pitch and was replaced by Lorenzo D’Anna.
However, Alex Sandro gave a frustrated Ronaldo a good reason to smile. He squared the ball to Bernardeschi, and he did well in sending the ball to the net for the winner. He did it at the perfect moment as it was too late for the valiant I Gialloblu to mount a comeback.
Key statistics
Juventus won this match in every sense of the word. Their winning streak against Chievo is now up to six, but the hosts did well in almost stealing the thunder off Ronaldo’s debut.
I Bianconeri had 73% of possession and asserted their dominance with their 26 shot attempts. However, their frequent fouls meant that Chievo had a lot of free-kick attempts. They were also dispossessed a lot of times, with Chievo making 22 tackles.
What’s next?
Juventus will hope to have an easier time when they face Parma in their second game of the season, while Chievo will be using the momentum they gained in this game to try and steal a victory against a decent Fiorentina side.
For more details about the exciting Serie A season, keep your eyes peeled on SBOBET.
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