28.11.2020 » Benevento 1-1 Juventus. The champions missed Ronaldo!
The Italian champions dropped 2 points in their visit to Benevento this Saturday evening, after delivering another disappointing performance and drawing 1-1 against the "Stregoni". Pirlo strangely decided to rest Cristiano Ronaldo today, even though the Bianconeri already secured their ticket to the Champions League's knockout stages and next Wednesday's game doesn't really mean much anymore. The opening goal was scored by Álvaro Morata, but the hosts never gave up and managed to level the game at 1-1 just before the half-time break. In the second half, Juve struggled to increase the pace of the game and never really got to throw their opponents against the ropes in order to score the winning goal...
Benevento 1-1 Juventus - Goals and highlights:
Ronaldo would have made it
a different game...
With AC Milan leading the Serie A table and holding a 4-point advantage towards Juventus prior to this weekend's fixtures, it was crucial to secure the win today and start closing the gap. Inter did their job earlier on the day by beating Sassuolo 3-0 and grabbing the second spot just two points behind Milan and if Juventus had won their game today they would at least go to sleep in second place, just one point behind the Rossoneri. Nothing went according to plan though and Juve are now fourth and can still see AS Roma passing them on the table tomorrow, as well Milan increasing the point-gap to 6 points.
It's easy to point fingers at Pirlo now, especially after realizing that Juventus proved to be incapable of beating a well organized Benevento side. The decision of resting Ronaldo was risky, but at the end of the day, the Italian manager assumed what most of us would have assumed in his position: the Italian champions had more than the obligation to beat Benevento, whether Ronaldo was on the pitch or not. With Morata, Dybala, Chiesa and Kulusevski all available to give their contribution in this game, there was enough firepower on the field to score the goals the team needed in order to grab the 3 points...
The hosts had lost 5 of their last 6 games since October 18 and no one really expected them to pose such a risk to Juve's campaign, at least not during this stage of the season where they were piling up losses one after another.
Morata scored the opener but it wasn't enough to secure the win...
It was without much surprise that we saw the Vecchia Signora breaking the deadlock and it all happened in the 21st minute of the first half, when a great long pass from Chiesa found Álvaro Morata completely forgotten on the last third of the pitch. The former Real Madrid and Atletico striker controlled the ball with ease, then cut inside using his right foot just before pulling the ball to his left. As soon as he got the space he was looking for to shoot and aimed at the far post and beat the hosts' goalkeeper to put Juventus on the lead. It was a superb goal from the Spanish forward, who is, aside with Ronaldo, one of Juventus' most in-form players right now...
What happened next was that the Italian champions tried to relax a little bit and Benevento would make them pay a big price for their excssive permissiveness. The hosts didn't stop pushing forward until they got what they wanted and after a few good chances to score, they finally got it. A corner-kick on the right side of the attack would eventually lead to a poor clearance from Arthur, who ended up assisting his opponent for a good strike. Gaetano Letizia didn't hesitate and fired the ball towards the far post, drawing the game 1-1. Instants after, the referee blew the whistle for half-time...
For those thinking we would be seeing a huge massacre in the second half, with Juventus eventually reaching the goal they much needed, they probably bet on the wrong "horse" today. Juventus showed a very poor attitude until the end and Benevento held the fortress well, securing a point that will certainly motivate the team for the upcoming games.
Juventus line-up vs Benevento:
Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: Frabotta, Danilo, De Ligt, Cuadrado
Midfielders: Arthur, Rabiot, Ramsey, Chiesa
Attackers: Dybala, Morata.
Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
|
||
|---|---|---|
Benevento
|
vs
|
Juventus
|
1 |
Goals |
1 |
8 |
Shots |
16 |
3 |
Shots on goal |
5 |
5 |
Corner kicks |
8 |
13 |
Fouls commited |
13 |
5 |
Yellow cards |
1 |
0 |
Red cards |
1 |
36% |
Ball possession |
64% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus in the UEFA Champions League is on December 2, against Dynamo Kiev. You can watch Juventus vs Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan vs Fiorentina, Barcelona vs Osasuna, Southampton vs Manchester United, Chelsea vs Tottenham, and Napoli vs AS Roma, all matches provided from our football live game pages.
Juventus next game:
Juventus vs Dynamo Kiev kick-off time (02-12-2020):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+7: 03:00
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+6: 02:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+4.30: 00:30
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+1: 21:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-4: 16:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-5: 15:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-8: 12:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / blackwhitereadallover.com / 90min.com
