Juve Silenced At Verona, Despite CR7's Heroics
09 February, 2020
Serie A
Result: Hellas Verona 2-1 Juventus
Date: 08 February 2020
Venue: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi
Juventus failed to pull clear at the top of Serie A after suffering a shock 2-1 loss to Hellas Verona on Saturday evening.
Bianconeri boss Maurizio Sarri kept the same side that thrashed Fiorentina the last time out, with Douglas Costa preferred over Paulo Dybala to form a front trio with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain.
The game started at a high intensity and Costa nearly opened the scoring for Juventus in the 19th minute after making a galloping run from the half-way line, but his looping strike came off the crossbar.
Verona thought they had found the opener two minutes later after Marash Kumbulla headed home a cross from Miguel Veloso past Bianconeri shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny, whose attempted save helped the ball cross the line but the goal was chalked off after the Video Assitant Referee spotted an offside in the build-up.
Cristiano Ronaldo almost broke the deadlock with nine minutes left of the first stanza after being given space to cut in from the left but his strike crashed against upright, while the Portuguese forward went close with a diving header minutes later.
With the second half starting off on a slow note. Ronaldo eventually broke the deadlock for the Old Lady in the 65th minute with a low strike from the edge of the box after he initiated the attack with Rodrigo Bentancur in their own half to score for a 10th straight league game.
Verona found the equaliser with 14 minutes remaining after Fabio Borini capitalised on a mistake by Miralem Pjanic at the back and curled a low strike past Szczesny.
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci almost netted an own goal in the last six minutes after his attempt to block Kumbulla's header ricocheted off the bar. However, the referee reviewed that incident on the pitch-side monitor and concluded that the ball hit Bonucci's arm and Verona were awarded a penalty.
Giampaolo Pazzini stepped and rifiled his spot-kick past Szczesny to seal a famous win for the home side, while Inter Milan can move level with Juventus with victory in the Milan Derby on Sunday.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za