Magical goal: Juventus supporters broke into cheer; didn't expect it, says Cristiano Ronaldo

Agencies
April 4, 2018

Turin, Apr 4: Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in 10 successive Champions League games as he struck twice for holders Real Madrid in a 3-0 win at Juventus in the quarter-final first leg.

Ronaldo grabbed the opening goal in Turin after just three minutes and added a second on the hour with a sensational overhead bicycle kick, taking him to 14 goals in this season's competition.

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala was sent off on 66 minutes before Ronaldo set up Marcelo to cap the rout and leave Real in complete control of the tie going into the second leg in Madrid on April 11.

The 33-year-old Portugal star had shared the previous goalscoring record with former Manchester United team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy, who found the net in nine consecutive matches between 2002 and 2003.

"You can say he's one of the most beautiful players in the history of football," said Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.

"It's not easy to get three goals past Juve on their own pitch. But in the end it was teamwork, you have to work as a team to get this result."

"Of course Juventus aren't happy with the result tonight, but I will always have Juve in my heart," added Zidane, who spent five seasons at the Italian club as a player.

Ronaldo himself did not expect to score such a majestic goal. He said, "Great goal, what can I say? Fantastic. I didn't expect to score that goal. But let's speak about the game. I think the game was amazing. We scored three goals against Juve - a great team. We played nice and of course, I am happy. I helped the team, I scored two goals - a great night."

"This 3-0 is really hard to digest," said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has guided the club to the final twice in the past three seasons.

"In my opinion, from Cardiff (last year's final defeat) to today we have even improved. There is absolutely nothing to hold against the lads. We faced an extraordinary team with probably the best player in the world. Now we have to raise our heads, think about the future and the championship."

Zidane opted for the same line-up as last year's final when the Spaniards crushed Juventus 4-1 to claim a record 12th European title, with Isco preferred to Gareth Bale.

Some dreadful defending from Juventus early gave Isco the space on the left flank to supply Ronaldo for the opener, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon helpless to stop the Portuguese's expert flick.

Mattia De Sciglio sent a shot flashing across goal on 34 minutes that just evaded the sliding Gonzalo Higuain, who was then denied by a stunning reflex save from Keylor Navas after getting on the end of a Dybala free-kick.

Real looked set to score again when Toni Kroos latched onto a loose ball, his blistering long-range effort rattling the crossbar.

The Spanish giants will be without captain Ramos next week after the centre-back was booked for a foul on Dybala, whose resulting free-kick was deflected just wide.

'Like Pele, Maradona'

But Real doubled their lead when confusion in the Juve defence allowed Ronaldo to keep alive an attack, Dani Carvajal crossing back into the area where Ronaldo connected with an outrageous bicycle kick, a strike that earned the applause of the home crowd.

Just a minute later Dybala received his second yellow card for a raised boot on Carvajal, and with a man down there was no stopping Real as Marcelo put a third past Buffon from a Ronaldo assist.

"We saw what Ronaldo is and always has been - a player of an extraordinary level who along with Leo Messi is achieving the greatest heights," said Buffon.

"This means they can be compared to Maradona and Pele for the way they ultimately are able to decide matches and trophies won by their teams." "I feel great regret and disappointment," added the 40-year-old.

"Because we probably won't be able to go forward in the tournament and that is a regret, a big regret, but it's also true that when you meet certain opponents, you must have a clear enough head to recognise they are objectively stronger."

Mateo Kovacic almost added a fourth when he hit the crossbar, with Buffon stopping a further Ronaldo effort and the Portuguese missing another chance late.

Ronaldo -- who has now scored 23 goals in all competition for Madrid in 2018 -- earned a standing ovation from the Juventus fans as he left the pitch.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 5,2020

Hamilton, Feb 5: Ross Taylor and Tom Latham played knocks of 109 and 69, respectively, as New Zealand defeated India by four wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.

Chasing 348, New Zealand got off to a steady start as openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls put on 85 runs for the first wicket, however, India finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over as Shardul Thakur dismissed Guptill (32).

Tom Blundell and Nicholls then put on 24 runs for the second wicket, but their vigil came to an end in the 20th over as Kuldeep Yadav had Blundell (9) stumped at the hands of wicket-keeper KL Rahul, reducing Kiwis to 109/2.

Nicholls then retrieved the innings for the hosts as he found support in Ross Taylor. The duo mixed caution with aggression to stitch together a partnership of 62 runs. But with their back against the wall, skipper Kohli lifted the side up as he ran out Nicholls (78) in the 29th over, reducing New Zealand to 171/3.

Skipper Tom Latham, came out to bat next, and he increased the tempo of the Kiwi innings. He took a special liking to Kuldeep and kept on sweeping him to pick easy boundaries on the legside.

Taylor and Latham put on a stand of 138 runs to take Kiwis closer to victory. But with 39 runs away from the target, Kuldeep dismissed Latham (69) to revive India's hopes of making a comeback.

Mohammed Shami removed Jimmy Neesham (9) in the 46th over while Colin de Grandhomme (1) was sent packing via a run-out to send cat among the pigeons in the Kiwi camp. In the end, Mitchell Santner and Taylor took the hosts over the line by four wickets and with 11 balls to spare.

Earlier, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's knocks of 103 and 88, respectively, helped India post 347/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

After being put in to bat, India got off to a quickfire start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal put on 50 runs. Colin de Grandhomme finally provided the breakthrough to the Kiwis as he sent Shaw (20) back to the pavilion in the eighth over.

Agarwal (32) was also dismissed soon after by Tim Southee and the Men in Blue were reduced to 54/2 in the ninth over.

Skipper Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 102 runs for the third wicket. Kohli brought up his 58th half-century in the 28th over.

Ish Sodhi got the crucial breakthrough of Kohli (51) in the 29th over as he clean bowled him to reduce India to 156/3. However, Iyer continued to march on and brought up his maiden ODI century in the 43rd over.

KL Rahul, who came in to bat at number five provided the much-needed impetus to the innings. He along with Iyer put on a stand of 136 runs for the fourth wicket.

Iyer (103) was finally sent back to the pavilion by Southee in the 46th over, reducing India to 292/4.

In the final overs, Rahul and Kedar Jadhav hammered the Kiwi players to take India's score past the 340-run mark. Jadhav remained unbeaten on 26.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 348/6 (Ross Taylor 109*, Henry Nicholls 78, Kuldeep Yadav 2-84) defeat India 347/4 (Shreyas Iyer 103, KL Rahul 88*, Tim Southee 2-85) by four wickets.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
August 9,2020

Manchester, Aug 9: Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler played knocks of 84 and 75 respectively as England gained an improbable three-wicket win over Pakistan in the first Test of the three-match series here at the Emirates Old Trafford.

England chased down a total of 277 on the fourth day of the first Test.

Chasing 277, England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley put on 22 runs for the first wicket, but Mohammad Abbas finally provided the breakthrough to Pakistan as he had Burns (10) adjudged leg-before wicket in the 12th over.

Skipper Joe Root came to the crease next, and he along with Sibley ensured that the side does not lose any more wickets before the lunch break, and England went into the lunch break at 55/1.

Sibley and Root eventually put up a 64-run stand, but their partnership was finally brought to an end by Yasir Shah as he dismissed Sibley (36) in the 36th over. Soon after, skipper Root (42) was also sent back to the pavilion by Naseem Shah, reducing England to 96/3 in the 39th over.

All eyes were on all-rounder Ben Stokes (9), but Pakistan's Yasir Shah sent him back to the pavilion in the 42nd over, and England was left in a spot of bother. Shaheen Shah Afridi, then also got among the wicket-taking charts as he scalped the wicket of Ollie Pope (7), reducing England to 117/5 in the 45th over.

Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler then got together at the crease, and the duo played in an aggressive manner to retrieve the innings for England. The hosts went into the tea break at 167/5, still, 110 runs away from the target with five wickets in hand.

Buttler and Woakes continued their march to frustrate the Pakistan bowling attack and the duo brought the target within the grasp of England. Both batsmen put up a stand of 139 runs, however, with just 21 runs away from the target, England lost the key wicket of Buttler (75) as Yasir Shah had him trapped in front of the wicket.

With England just needing four more runs for the win, Yasir Shah dismissed Stuart Broad (4), but in the end, Woakes and Dom Bess ensured England's win by three wickets.

For Pakistan, Yasir Shah was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Earlier, resuming day four at 137/8, Yasir Shah (33) along with Mohammad Abbas (3*) and Naseem Shah (4) added 32 more runs to the overnight score to give England a target of 277 to win the first Test.

Stuart Broad was the pick of England bowlers as he scalped three wickets.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.