Ronaldo Scores Controversial Penalty to Beat Genoa in Stoppage Time

Cristiano Ronaldo with Juventus in 2019
Cristiano Ronaldo with Juventus in 2019. Photo by Paul Currie/BPI/REX/Shutterstock (10152259da)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a controversial penalty in stoppage time on Wednesday night in Turin to propel his team to a 2-1 win over Genoa, putting them in first place in Serie A.

Juventus found themselves deadlocked with a rival that they were heavily favored to beat after Genoa’s Christian Kouame scored a 40th minute goal just four minutes after Leonardo Bonucci opened the scoring in the match.

Almost unbelievably, the Old Lady was unable to score for much of the second half after two Genoa players were shown red cards and forced to leave the game.

Francesco Cassata was sent off in the 51st minute, and then Federico Marchetti went to the showers only six minutes later. Despite holding a two-man advantage, Juventus didn’t score and saw Adrien Rabiot sent off for their own team just before stoppage time.

However, in the final minute of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded a controversial penalty after being fouled by Antonio Sanabria in the box. In replays, it appeared that the Portuguese superstar embellished contact and probably didn’t deserve to be given the penalty.

The penalty was awarded, though, and Ronaldo fired a shot past keeper Andrei Radu to give Juve a 2-1 win, putting them in first place in Italy’s domestic league.

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