Dusan Vlahovic on Tuesday needed just 31 seconds to show Europe why Juventus chose him to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Serbia striker had a dream debut in the UEFA Champions League, scoring a superb goal after his first contact with the ball in a 1-1 draw against Villarreal.
His goal had the elements of strikes that only players of Ronaldo’s caliber can pull off, combining power, a sense of the moment and that extra dose of confidence that means no scoring chance, however slim, should go to waste.
Photo: AFP
After using his chest to control a long pass from Danilo, the 22-year-old striker did not hesitate to immediately take on centerback pair Pau Torres and Raul Albiol.
He used one touch to prepare his shot taken with his weaker right foot while he spun toward the goal. The low effort grazed the foot of a defender before squirting in at an angle past goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.
It was his second goal with Juventus since the team secured his 70 million euros (US$80 million) transfer from ACF Fiorentina near the end of the transfer window last month to find a top scorer after Ronaldo’s exit five months before in the off-season.
Photo: AP
“It was huge to score on my debut. It was very emotional,” Vlahovic said. “However, I cannot be 100 percent satisfied because we have not won the game.”
Dani Parejo leveled for Villarreal in the 66th minute, leaving the playoff poised for the decider in Italy with the away-goal rule scrapped this season.
After Vlahovic’s opener, Villarreal tied to respond through their speed on the flanks. Alfonso Pedraza stole the ball and sped from the left side of the box before he laid off for Giovani lo Celso, only for his scuffed attempt to find the top of the left post in the 13th minute.
Vlahovic also impressed with his ability to pull down more long balls for his teammates in the first half.
However, Parejo’s equalizer came just after Albiol made it his mission to start taking away that outlet.
Following Albiol’s challenge to win a ball from Juventus’ new striker, the Italian team betrayed their defensive pedigree when they gave Etienne Capoue time to pick out a run forward by fellow midfielder Parejo.
Juventus’ backline compounded that mistake by leaving Parejo free of a marker as he fired low to make it 1-1.
“When they score in the first minute, it ruins your game plan, but even so, we knew how to hang in there and go for the match,” Parejo said. “To draw 1-1 after starting from behind, I am satisfied with how we played and the chances we created against a giant like Juventus.”
Vlahovic almost conjured up the winner with five minutes remaining with a powerful shot that Rulli did well to stop.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS