JOSE’S LATE SHOW STUNS JUVE
United seal dramatic victory as Mourinho masterplan pays off
It wasn’t Nou Camp, and it certainly wasn’t a goal for the highlight reel. Not like the one Cristiano Ronaldo had scored earlier. Yet the injurytime winner that put Manchester United back on course for the Champions League knockout stage would have been a thing of beauty to Jose Mourinho.
He came here with a plan and it worked. A moment of genius from Ronaldo aside, Juventus could not find a way through.
And while United undoubtedly rode their luck as the Italians spurned opportunities and twice hit the woodwork, it took immense effort to be within touching distance of the home side with five minutes to go. From there, United sprung an old-fashioned smash and grab.
Was it deserved? In its way, yes. Plenty of teams have buckled against Juventus in recent years and United stayed strong.
they ran hard, worked hard, and when they finally started attacking the Juve box the Italians were found wanting. they gave away free-kicks in awkward positions and were a mess defending them.
It is the first time since the Nou Camp in 1999 that United have come back in this way in a European game and while a group fix ture scarcely bears comparison, this was still a statement result.
Mourinho cupped a sarcastic hand to an ear by way of response to the home crowd at the end and was immediately confronted by an angry Leonardo Bonucci and bundled from the pitch as tensions threatened to escalate.
So Juventus cared. they do not expect to be embarrassed like this on home turf. they do not expect to be outmanoeuvred.
It was a very good night for United in another way, too, because it keeps the meeting between Juventus and Valencia live. If Juve win that and United defeat Young Boys at Old trafford, the final group game in Spain is rendered redundant.
So this was a huge win, tactically, for Mourinho and a massive fillip with the Manchester derby only three days away.
United will need to be on their game defensively then, too, so it was impressive that they remained in touch with a superior Juventus side until a remarkable five minutes in which the match turned on its head. It was injury time when Ashley Young curled in a free-kick left Juve’s defence in inexplicable chaos.
It was a fine delivery, but this is a seasoned defensive line.
As a bundle of players attacked the ball at the far post, Paul Pogba among them, Juve seemed to lose their sense of decorum. the ball took more than one ricochet and while Pogba was claiming the goal, it looked as if full back Alex Sandro got the final touch.
there was a stunned silence, a moment when it was thought Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan might save the home side — and then he did the right thing and signalled the goal. No Juve player was fouled in the melee. It was poor defending, pure and simple.
As for the equaliser, let’s just say the third touch is a charm.arm. Juan Mata had a feel of the ball on two occasions as a substitute, before unleashing the free- kick that at brought United level. . Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba combined to win the kick, but Mata had the last word — a magnificent curling effort that left Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech h Szczesny clutching g at air.
It was a fine comeback back with the only caveat being a pang of sadness that itt overwrote one of this season’s great Champions League goals.
For if anyone deserved to score the winner of this match, it was Ronaldo. this time he celebrated, too. He said he wouldn’t, at Old trafford, out of respect to his former club and their fans.
Yet here, at his newly-adopted home in the shadow of the Alps, there was no such obligation. So when he scored the goal that finally broke the deadlock, he celebrated like, well, Cristiano Ronaldo.
He ran to the left of the goal and pulled up his shirt to reveal that washboard torso, a central core so firm and sculpted a small tower block could be constructed around it with no query from the planning department.
How long does Ronaldo work on athletic tone? Probably as long as he works on the first-time finishing that flummoxed Manchester United. Until that point, they had
proved extremely hard to break down. Juventus had some excellent chances but United surely anticipated that when they arrived with a resolute defensive plan.
What no club can adequately guard against is the one glimmer that Ronaldo needs to score. Not even a clear cut chance, either.
Most strikers would have struggled to convert Bonucci’s pass forward into a goal, even as perfectly placed as it was. Ronaldo, instead, made it look easy.
He left Chris Smalling and, spinning, broke clear of Victor Lindelof in the penalty area, with the ball arriving over his right shoulder. take a touch? Are you mad? Ronaldo watched it in all the way, let it drop as if possessing a sixth sense regarding time and space, and volleyed it past David de Gea.
It was sublime. the run, the connection, the execution, all had to be immaculate for it to work as well as it did. At 33, he shows no signs of compromise in his performance level. What were Real Madrid thinking, letting him go?
From there, Juventus could have walked away with it. Ronaldo was now the provider, setting up Miralem Pjanic, whose shot forced a brilliant save from De Gea.
Pjanic then played a one-two with Juan Cuadrado before wasting his shot. Finally, Ronaldo played a nicely weighted pass for Cuadrado whose shot went wildly over the bar, a real howler. Had any of those gone in, would United have had the impetus for revival?
It was in first-half injury time when United had their first shot on target. A tame, low effort from Pogba, just over 20 yards out on the left, easily mopped up by Szczesny.
Not that Mourinho would have minded the slow start. this was about containing Juventus, soaking up pressure and striking on the counter attack – and they did most of that rather successfully.
While Juventus mustered 10 goal attempts in the opening 45 minutes, just one was on target — and that a deflection kept out by De Gea. Ronaldo wasn’t at the centre of the goalmouth action, but was frequently involved in the link play.
In the 35th minute, he turned up on the right, hitting a low cross that picked out Sami Khedira perfectly. He had time to turn and place his shot, but found only the outside of a post.
A minute earlier, Cuadrado, who has made a success of his career in the Italian league without ever looking like he would haunt Chelsea in the way Mo Salah and Kevin de Bruyne have, struck a cross from the right. It deflected off Nemanja Matic and forced a save from De Gea, low to his right.
Fortunately for United, Victor Lindelof was first to react, kicking the ball clear before any of Juve’s lurking forwards had the chance to make it count.
Paulo Dybala hit the bar in the second half, no doubt adding to Juve’s sense of injustice. Not that Mourinho will care. When the Italians get a result like this, we think they are smart. At times, his United can be pretty smart, too.