Serie A 2018-19: 5 talking points from Match Day 5
The fifth Match Day of the Serie A 2018-19 season saw the league leaders Juventus up against newly promoted Frosinone, with Juve summer signing Ronaldo looking to forget his controversial red card in the mid-week clash against Valencia in the Champions League. Napoli took on Torino with an aim to solidify their position in the table and keep their title challenge alive this season. Inter Milan faced off against a tough Sampdoria side, winning only in stoppage time following three goals disallowed by VAR in the match.
Here, we take a look at the five main talking points from Match Day 5 of the Serie A 2018-19 season:
#5 Juventus defeat Frosinone to maintain perfect record:
Juventus faced Frosinone on Match Day 5 of the Serie A. Allegri's men had already endured a tough mid-week Champions League clash at the Mestalla against Valencia. Juve had won that match courtesy of two Miralem Pjanic goals converted from penalties, despite the fact that their star summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off controversially. Juventus started the match with a 4-3-3 formation with Dybala, Mandzukic and Ronaldo upfront. Betancur started the match in midfield along with Emre Can and Miralem Pjanic, Juan Cuadrado playing in a wing back role. Frosinone have only won one out of their four matches before this and it was expected that Juve would make easy work of them.
Ronaldo almost opened the scoring for Juventus in the 8th minute which he struck neatly following a header which Mandzukic won. But Frosinone defender Capuano cleared from the line to deny Ronaldo and Juve. Ronaldo had another chance in the 20th minute when his shot was saved by Sportiello. Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado in the right-back role created all sorts of problems for the Frosinone defence throughout the first half. Mandzukic had a clear cut chance in the 31st minute as well but could not score as the first half ended goalless.
To break down the Frosinone defence, Allegri brought on Bernardeschi for Betancur, an attack-minded substitution. Ronaldo, Dybala and Mandzukic had several chances in the second half but could not get the lead for Juve. But with less than 10 minutes to go, a shot from Pjanic blocked by a defender fell into Ronaldo's path and he scored to give Juventus the much needed goal. Bernardeschi doubled the lead in stoppage time when he converted from a Pjanic assist on a ball won by Ronaldo in his own penalty area. Juventus sit top of the Serie A table with 15 points from 5 games and up next for then is a Seria A midweek clash against Bologna who stunned Roma this week.