CR-Heaven: Cristiano Ronaldo the matchwinner as Juventus defeat Milan to win Supercoppa Italiana
Cristiano Ronaldo put his off-field controversies behind him as he scored the only goal of the game to lead Juventus to victory against AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana on Wednesday night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo's day started with the news that a former girlfriend was set to meet with the legal team of Kathryn Mayorga, the woman who claims he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2009.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo's rape accuser's legal team to meet with former girlfriend
But the events off the field appeared to have little impact on the Portuguese star's performance on the pitch for his team.
Ronaldo's 61st-minute strike proved decisive as he nodded a Miralem Pjanic chipped ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the Milan goal to break the deadlock against their longtime rivals.
Whole stadium shouted 'SIIUUU' when Ronaldo scored [@adulrahman_rash] pic.twitter.com/Y6G9hhtmyA
— Juvefc.com (@juvefcdotcom) January 16, 2019
Milan's appeals for offside were waved away by the officals, with VAR replays showing the Portuguese superstar was level with the last Milan defender and therefore onside.
WHO ELSE ON A BIG NIGHT? WHO ELSE TO OPEN THE SCORING? CRISTIANO RONALDO FOR JUVENTUS!!!!!!! THE BEST IN THE WORLD!!!!!!1pic.twitter.com/HOPamJ8OCR
— Mu. (@TheCristianoGuy) January 16, 2019
65': Replay seems to show Ronaldo was marginally onside 🤷♂️[Image: @TeamMilanAC] #JuventusMilan 1-0 pic.twitter.com/cH8TNXYEPp
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) January 16, 2019
Not bad for a man who appeared to be working as a security guard only a matter of hours before kick-off...
Looks like Ronaldo has given up trying to be as good as Messi and is now working as a security guard 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/PSITqzxOY5
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) January 16, 2019
Paolo Dybala nearly put Juve 2-0 up on 68 minutes, but his slotted finish was correctly ruled out for offside.
But things eventually went from bad to worse for Milan when Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Emre Can after 73 minutes.
Following the sending off, 10-man Milan were hamstrung in their attempts to get back into the game, as Juventus cruised through the remainder of the game to seal a 1-0 win and claim the Supercoppa Italiana in the process.
