27 February 2021
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal wasn’t enough to bring home all three points from Verona as Juventus drew 1-1 against Hellas Verona on Saturday evening at the Stadio Bentegodi. After a goalless first half, Barak’s headed goal cancelled out Ronaldo’s second-half strike.
END-TO-END OPENING HALF
Andrea Pirlo didn’t have many options coming into the game as Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Juan Cuadrado, Arthur and Paulo Dybala are all injured, while Alvaro Morata is still recovering from his viral infection, and Danilo is suspended. Despite this, Juve were the first team to threaten at goal when Ramsey smashed his effort into the side netting. Szczesny was then called into action moments later when a Zaccagni cross met Faraoni’s header and it thumped the outside the near post after Tek’s initial save. Chiesa, who was bursting with tireless energy, made a good move in the box before unleashing at goal, only to see it denied by Silvestri. By the half an hour mark of the half, the tempo had slowed down and neither side created any threatening chances, seeing them go into the break goalless.
RONALDO OPENS THE SCORING
However, that scoreline didn’t stay intact for very long as Ronaldo broke the scoreline just three minutes into the second half when he got onto the end of Chiesa’s perfect rolled pass to fire it home from 12 yards! It so nearly became 2-0 in the 59th minute: Kulusevski made an excellent run in the box, pulled back from the byline for Ramsey, whose shot was charged down.
VERONA EQUALISE
Weston McKennie was then introduced into the game in place of Ramsey, while Szczesny had to rush off his line to push the ball off the head of Faraoni. Verona started to pile on the pressure and their persistence paid off when they grabbed an equaliser in the 77th minute through Barak, who directed his headed ball into the top corner. The hosts nearly turned the result in their favour when Lazovic’s ferocious effort clipped the crossbar, while Veloso’s curling effort from the D went wide. One of Juve’s final attempts saw Ronaldo’s free-kick from 15 yards out strike the wall, as the points were shared in Verona.
Verona: Silvestri; Magnani, Gunter, Lovato; Faraoni, Sturaro, Ilic, Dimarco; Barak, Zaccagni; Lasagna
Juventus: Szczesny; Demiral, De Ligt, Alex Sandro; Chiesa (Di Pardo 87’), Bentancur, Rabiot, Bernardeschi; Ramsey (McKennie 67’); Kulusevski, Ronaldo
Subs: Buffon, Pinsoglio, Di Pardo, Dragusin, Frabotta, Capellini, McKennie, Fagioli, Peeters, Rafia, Marques, Ake.
