Watch the video of angry Cristiano Ronaldo shouting ‘Mister’ at Massimiliano Allegri during Napoli game.
Juventus traveled to Naples in the hopes of edging closer to their seventh straight Serie A title on a bounce. The game ended 2-1 in the favour of the visitors, with the goals coming from Miralem Pjanic and Emre Can despite a second-half strike from Jose Callejon.
With this victory, Juventus are already 16 points above the second-placed Napoli in the league table. There is no doubt that other sides will not be able to catch up the Old Lady unless there is a huge slump from Allegri’s side.
After scoring two goals, Juventus decided to sit back for the rest of the game, whilst the sides from Naples were relentlessly tapping on the opponents’ defence in the hopes of equalizing the game.
During the first half, Kevin Malcuit’s poor ball was taken care by Cristiano Ronaldo who was clear on goal. But, the goalkeeper Alex Meret rushed down the spot to take out the Portuguese International outside the box. The referee had no thoughts about producing the red card.
The young goalkeeper was replaced by the experienced David Ospina, but the Colombian was not able to stop a fantastic free kick from the magician Miralem Pjanic. There was an immediate reaction from the hosts, but Piotr Zielinski hit the post in a counter-attacking situation.
However, Juventus were all over the moon after Emre Can found the back of the net with a well-placed header six minutes before the half time whistle to double the lead. For the remaining part of the game, the visitors decided to sit back and hold the double goal cushion.
Things did not go as planned when Miralem Pjanic handled the ball. The Bosnian International was shown a second yellow card which dismissed him from the pitch. The bubble burst when Lorenzo Insigne produced an extraordinary defense splitting delivery to Jose Callejon. The Spanish International tapped the ball in from close range to cut down the deficit to one.
Juventus would have surrendered their two-goal lead when the referee went to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to overturn his original decision and award a harsh penalty against Alex Sandro. But, new Napoli Skipper Lorenzo Insigne hit the crossbar from the spot kick which dealt a huge blow to Napoli’s title hopes.
Massimiliano Allegri will not be happy with the performance, but his side move an inch closer to the glory with 12 games to play. Carlo Ancelotti will be happy with the performance of his side as they showed great character and grit despite going down to 10 men in the 25th minute. It was a fascinating game as Serie A produces yet another enthralling game this campaign.
RONALDO SHOUTS ‘MISTER’ AT ALLEGRI
Cristiano Ronaldo might not have got his name on the score sheet, but he was present at the right place to earn a red card for Napoli in the first half. It was a pivotal moment in the game which enhanced the visitors to head into the dressing room with a two-goal lead during half time.
However, he was not happy with the attacking intent showed by the Old Lady who sat back to pile pressure on themselves during the second half. The Portuguese International shouted ‘Mister’ at Massimiliano Allegri deeming his boss to do more in the offensive part of the game.
But, when the Italian International asked his forward to track back when required during the second half, Ronaldo gladly accepted that decision to contribute to the team’s success.
“We will look at the positive aspects: we suffered in the right way and in the important moments. But we can and need to do better. We were imprecise in our passes. When we played, we did well. We need to be better technically and, in the decision making, in the next few games.
“Against Atletico we have the quality to play with serenity and without fear. That evening we need to have patience, be lucid and calm: if it’s 0’0 in the 70th minute, I don’t want it to be said that we are eliminated, in the first leg we conceded two goals in five minutes.”
Massimilano Allegri says that he will not take lightly unless Juventus have won the league mathematically.
“I should have substituted him off before, because he was at risk. After his sending off, in fact, we lost our way and Napoli grew. We conceded a penalty, Insigne made a mistake and in that moment the game was finished. We can say that we are five and half victories away from the title. Now we will rest and then we will prepare for our next fixtures.” said Allegri in the post-match press conference.
