Ronaldo Scores Against AC Milan For The First Trophy With Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus won their first mutual trophy tonight. The Italian champions faced their big rivals, AC Milan, in the Super Cup game.

The Old Lady won 1-0, with Ronaldo scoring the only goal in this match, and getting his hands on the first piece of silverware since he landed in Turin.

After the match, the Portuguese superstar expressed his joy because of today’s win.

“It was my intention to start 2019 with a trophy, I have my first title with Juve and I am very happy,” Ronaldo stated.

Ronaldo with the header!

Juve up 1-0 in the Italian Supercoppa. pic.twitter.com/gRUsFgCJ8a

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 16, 2019

His goal came in the 61st minute of this, not so thrilling and spectacular, contest. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker cleverly avoided the offside trap set by the defenders, and placed the ball behind Donnarumma’s back with an inch-perfect header.

It was Ronaldo’s 16th goal this season, in 26 matches for the Italian powerhouse, who has been ruling this Europan country in the last seven years.

Judging by the way they play this season, it seems that the Old Lady isn’t going to miss the chance to win its eighth consecutive title. Ronaldo spoke about that also, and mentioned, Juve’s elusive dream in the past two decades, the Champions League.

“The championship is Juve’s first goal, but it is very long. We want to win at the end of the season.” He told the journalist right after the game, and added, “Champions League? We go step by step, the goal was to start the best 2019. Now we want to win all the trophies in which we will play.”

The Old Lady emerges victorious once again ⚪️⚫️

Juventus have won the Supercoppa Italiana for a record 8th time 🏆 pic.twitter.com/vwe2vQhwgQ

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 16, 2019

Juventus was more than dominant at some points of this game, and they had more chances than their rivals. During the first 45 minutes, Massimiliano Allegri’s crew was running things on the field, but the first big chance came on the opposite side of the pitch.

It was Patrick Cutrone from AC Milan, who hit the crossbar of Szczesny’s goal after one excellent shot from a distance.

Juventus was more focused in the second half, when they completely shut down AC Milan’s attack, who was without Gonzalo Higuain, until the last 20 minutes.

It is expected that the Argentinian leaves Italy and moves to Chelsea, which is why Gennaro Gattuso left him on the bench.

The Old Lady had two disallowed goals tonight, both of them because of offsides. First one was in the 38th minute, when Matuidi found himself behind the back of Rossoneri’s defenders, and the second was in 68th, when Dybala did the same thing.

In general, Juventus was a much better side in this encounter, which resulted in winning their 8th Super Cup trophy.

AC Milan has nothing to regret for. To be perfectly clear they were inferior on the pitch, and couldn’t compete with Juve. Simple as that.

However, there was one controversial detail which might have changed the final outcome. Three minutes before the end of the regular time, Emre Can made a tackle on Andrea Conti on the edge of the goalkeeper area. Hakan Calhanoglu sent a low cross towards his teammate who was tripped by the German international. Can did reach the ball, but he also had contact with Conti.

The referee Luca Banti acted if nothing happened, which made all the Milan players and the whole bench very angry. They were demanding the use of a VAR system, but nothing happened.

https://twitter.com/MilanTalk1/status/1085625046087991297

Some 10 minutes earlier, the VAR was a decisive factor for Franck Kessie’s red card, but in this situation, Banti didn’t consult the assistant referee from the video room.

“Referee decisions? I’ll let you talk about that,” said Gennaro Gattuso after the game, obviously upset because of that ruling.

This game will also be remembered by the fact that it took place in Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah at the wonderful King Abdullah Stadium.