VAR, Penalties, And Disallowed Goals: Cristiano Ronaldo Steals The Show In Controversial Juventus Win

Cristiano Ronaldo once again remained firmly in the limelight as Juventus end the first half of the 2018/19 Serie A season with 53 points - an all-time record – with a controversial 2-1 win at the Allianz Arena over visitors Sampdoria.

The prancing Portuguese prince has gone further to redeem his gargantuan price-tag that saw him leave Real Madrid in the summer for Turin, although the 33-year-old will be disappointed that even with his brace, he has ended his seven year streak of scoring 50 goals in a calendar year, missing out by a single strike.

Just the 49 for 2018, Ronaldo did, however, top the Italian top tier goalscoring charts by a goal before Krzysztof Piatek had a chance to overturn in Genoa’s later kick-off, although the Juventus forward did so in extremely dubious circumstances.

Ronaldo’s opener after just two minutes was supplied by a wonderful ball by Bianconeri partner-in-crime Paulo Dybala, curling the ball into the bottom of the net past Emil Audero.

Accordingly, the wallflower that he is, CR7 celebrated rampantly with his trademark stance towards the corner to the adoration of Juve fans, which is available for you to watch below.

Sampdoria however were offered a route back into the game just after the half hour mark when Emre Can was penalised for a harsh hand ball and referee Paolo Vieri pointed to the chalk.

The resulting equaliser from the spot saw Sampdoria’s Fabio Quagliarella become the first player since David Trezeguet in December 2005 to score nine in nine Serie A matches,

The game remained level and looking likely to see Juventus record their second shared points on the trot after the St. Stephen’s Day draw away at Atalanta.

However, after an hour, Ronaldo was allowed to drill home Juventus’ own penalty after it was suggested Sampdoria centre-back Alex Ferrari committed his own hand-ball violation.

A consultation off-pitch saw Vieri once again point to the spot and Ronaldo made no mistake; bagging his 14th goal of the Serie A season so far.

Sampdoria were sensationally disallowed yet another equaliser in two minutes of extra time – after eight had been awarded - when VAR showed that Riccardo Saponara was offside from Gregoire Defrel’s initial backheel, despite how sublime his shot was to sail past Juve keeper Mattia Perin.

Once again, Juventus snatched all three points and continued the march on their way to their eighth successive Scudetto. The ultimate win however, it seems, is for VAR.

You can watch the video of the match’s talking points – including Ronaldo’s fantastic opener – below.