Say what you will about hosting the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia — we certainly did, here — but Juventus won its first trophy of the Cristiano Ronaldo era on Wednesday.
It came thanks to the head of none other than Cristiano Ronaldo in a 1-0 victory over AC Milan.
With Massimiliano Allegri starting an 11 that was about as full-strength as it gets, including Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa up front, AC Milan did its best to keep Juve off the score sheet for the first hour.
Eventually, however, Ronaldo broke through.
Miralem Pjanic picked out Ronaldo’s incisive run into the box with a perfectly lobbed pass and the Portuguese striker did the rest, deftly heading past a slow-to-react Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 61st minute.
Ronaldo with the header!
Juve up 1-0 in the Italian Supercoppa. pic.twitter.com/gRUsFgCJ8a— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 16, 2019
There was a hint of offside in the play, but replays showed Ronaldo was indeed onside (only his hand was off) and the goal stood up under VAR scrutiny.
Juventus racked up 18 shots on target during the match, played at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, compared to 10 for Milan. However, neither team was efficient hitting the target, as Juve sent 15 shots wayward and Milan nine.
But the one that mattered was put away by Ronaldo, who joined Juventus over the summer from Real Madrid.
The Old Lady’s task of winning the Super Cup for the eighth time since the inaugural edition in 1988 was made easier when Franck Kessié was shown straight red (with the help of VAR) for this challenge on Emre Can.
But there was one bright spot on the day for Gennaro Gattuso’s team.
Lucas Paquetá was given his first start since joining the club earlier this month and the 21-year-old Brazilian pulled this neat back-heel pass out of his bag in the first half.
Not a bad start for the $40 million man from Flamengo, but Milan fans will hope the next trick comes in a victory and not a loss to Ronaldo and Co.
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