Nets The 760th Goal, Ronaldo Brings Juventus To Win The Italian Super Cup
JAKARTA - Juventus won the Italian Super Cup after beating Napoli by a score of 2-0, in a match played at the Mapei Stadium, Sassuolo, local Wednesday or Thursday morning WIB. In this match, Cristiano Roanldo scored his 760th goal for the Portuguese club and national team.
Apart from being a traditional match that brought together the Italian League champions and the Italian Cup winners, coincidentally this match was also a repeat of the Italian Cup final match played last June. At that time Napoli won on penalties over Juve after a goalless draw.
Juve opened the scoring with a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 64th minute, before Alvaro Morata secured the victory for the Turin team with a goal in the 95th minute, according to the official Italian League website, reported by Antara.
The Bianconeri stole an early chance with Ronaldo's deflected shot. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny dropped the ball as a result of a hit by Danilo, but Giorgio Chiellini was able to clear the ball.
Napoli's first good chance came in the 29th minute, when Diego Demme's cross was met by Hirving Lozano's header which goalkeeper Szczesny was able to hold onto.
Ronaldo threatened back with a curling shot into the top corner of the net. Juve had more possession of the ball in the first half, but Napoli had the best chance.
Federico Chiesa has an ankle problem and had to be replaced by Federico Bernadeschi at halftime, and he scored almost straight away. Bernardeschi touched Weston McKennie's low cross with the tip of his foot, but goalkeeper David Ospina was able to save it.
After that Juve started to appear more and more aggressive and they soon reaped the rewards. Starting from a corner kick, the ball then hits Tiemoue Bakayoko, who becomes the ideal bait for Ronaldo to convert into a goal.
It was a historic goal for the Portuguese star, as it was his 760th goal for both club and national team. The record surpassed Josef Bican's record of 759 goals.
Dries Mertens was entered by Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso. He almost immediately made an impact when he slipped behind McKennie in the box, and the American kicked his opponent's ankle. After conducting the VAR review, the referee pointed to the white dot. Insigne took the penalty, but his shot went wide.
Juve then sealed their win over the Partenopei with the last kick of the game. From a Napoli corner, Juve counterattacked with Juan Cuadrado, and Alvaro Morata tucked the ball into the empty net.
The composition of players:
Juventus (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny, Juan Cuadrado, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo, Weston McKennie, Rodrigo Bentancur (Adrien Rabiot 83 '), Federico Chiesa (Federico Bernardeschi 46'), Arthur, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dejan Kulusevski (Alvaro Morata 83 '(
Coach: Andrea Pirlo
Napoli (4-2-3-1): David Ospina, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Konstantinos Manolas, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mario Rui (Matteo Politano 84 '), Diego Demme (Fernando Llorente 84'), Tiemoue Bakayoko (Eljif Elmas 67 ') , Hirving Lozano, Piotr Zielinski, Lorenzo Insigne, Andrea Petagna (Dries Mertens 72 ')
Coach: Gennaro Gattuso