Watch the video of Cristiano Ronaldo diving to earn a red card for Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
Juventus took a huge stride towards their second straight Scudetto with a 2-1 win over Napoli at San Paolo on Sunday. The Old Lady were not at their best, but they were able to muster out three points to claim their 23rd victory from just 26 games, thereby going 16 points clear of the second-placed Napoli.
During the first half, Napoli right-back Kevin Malcuit misplaced a pass and the goalkeeper Alex Meret rushed down the spot to clear the ball. But, Cristiano Ronaldo took a touch before he was cleared out by the goalkeeper.
In the replay, it suggested that the shot-stopper did not get a piece of the Portuguese International who made the most of it to dive and earn a red card for Alex Neret. Miralem Pjanic took the free kick and beat the substitute goalkeeper David Ospina to give the lead for the Old Lady.
Watch the video of Cristiano Ronaldo diving to dismiss the goalkeeper Alex Neret.
The fans were quick to point out that incident and mocked Cristiano Ronaldo for that dive.
It proved to be a pivotal situation in the game as the Old Lady took total in charge until the conclusion of the first half. But, they could have handed over a goal to Piotr Zielinski who hit the crossbar from a lightning quick counter-attack which totally Juventus on guard.
Emre Can headed the ball from a set piece to take two-goal cushion to the half time. But, the visitors were cut short to ten men when Miralem Pjanic handed the ball and received a second red card, just two minutes into the second half. There was a huge roar in the stadium when the Bosnian handed the ball and he was sent off for his action rightfully.
Napoli kept on piling pressure on the defence and finally broke the deadlock when Lorenzo Insigne produced an extraordinary ball to find Jose Callejon inside the six-yard box. Juventus were shell shocked and did not do any favours by just clearing out the ball and sitting back for rest of the game.
Alex Sandro was unfortunate to see penalty decision go against him in the 84th minute. Local hero Lorenzo Insigne took the penalty, but he struck the crossbar which gave a huge sigh relief to Massimiliano Allegri.
Italian International knows that the performance was not great, but they got the decisive factor by securing all three points. On the other hand, Carlo Ancelotti will be happy with the performance, but he would be disappointed with the ruined chances in the second half.
In the post-match press conference, Allegri pointed out that Juventus were not penetrating enough to regain control of the game in the second half.
“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.”
“I should have substituted him (Pjanic) 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.
