We saw a Cristiano Ronaldo vs Napoli who looked like a younger version of himself on Saturday.
In a matchup of the top two teams in Serie A (both at the end of last season and early in the current campaign), Juventus edged Napoli 3-1 at Allianz Stadium in Turin. And much of what the Old Lady did well on Saturday came down to Ronaldo playing like a winger.
Played up front alongside Mario Mandzukic, Ronaldo often found himself in wide spaces and excelled just as he had for many years at Manchester United and Real Madrid. While he’s been deployed more as an outright striker in recent years, the Portuguese star showed he can still excel in wide areas, playing a part in all three Bianconeri goals.
For Juve’s first goal, Ronaldo stole the ball on the left wing and faced up his defender. After a bit of dancing, Ronaldo escaped his defender and sent in a cross for Mandzukic to nod in from short range in the 26th minute.
That assist by #Cristiano Ronaldo for Mandzukic was a flashback to his days as a flying winger! Great move to elude the defender and create space on the left wing, and then a perfect cross.#JuveNapoli #Juventus #CR7Juve #CR7 pic.twitter.com/8dwuqtxMB0
— #ThankYouDeuce (@JogaBonito_USA) September 29, 2018
Ronaldo was again integral in Juventus’ second goal, the match winner.
Early in the second half, Ronaldo again found the ball coming to him on the left wing. This time he cut inside from just outside of the 18-yard box and launched a vicious, low shot toward David Ospina’s goal. The Colombian keeper got a hand to the shot to deflect it off the post, but Mandzukic was waiting to knock in the rebound.
Not long after, the job got easier for the Bianconeri when Mário Rui was sent off for a second yellow card.
The Old Lady capitalized on the man advantage with a third goal in the 76th minute. Ronaldo showed off his impressive hops when he rose to meet a corner kick. His header may or may not have been going into the goal when Leonardo Bonucci made sure by poking it into the back of the net.
Despite all his involvement, no goal would come for Ronaldo vs Napoli, though he had a few chances late. While the five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be disappointed to not get his name on the score sheet, Juventus won’t mind after an impressive win over its nearest rival.
It was a disappointing missed opportunity for Napoli to hand Juventus its first loss of the Serie A campaign as the reigning champion moved six points ahead of the reigning runner-up.
More disappointing was the fact Napoli took the lead in the 10th minute and couldn’t hang on. The Gli Azzurri struck first by taking advantage of some lax passing in the back from Juve, Dries Mertens making the home side pay.
But there was too much Ronaldo vs Napoli and Juventus is looking more and more like it will win an eighth straight Scudetto.
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