Juventus were forced to surrender all the three points at stake as Verona fought back to cause a major upset against their more illustrious opponents from Turin.
Cristiano Ronaldo had handed the Old Lady lead after his solo strike to create an impression it was going to be another routine win. But the hosts had other ideas with Fabio Borini and Giampaolo Pazzini scoring late crucial goals to subject the Serie A leaders a shock defeat.
Ronaldo was among the most disappointed players after the defeat against Hellas Verona. He did not even go to thank the away Juve fans and reportedly refused to take a selfie after the game with a fan.
Hellas are now unbeaten in eight rounds, despite feeling tired from Wednesday’s rescheduled Week 17 fixture against Lazio, holding out for a 0-0 draw at the Olimpico.
It was a very aggressive start from the hosts, as Wojciech Szczesny flew to fingertip a deflected Marco Davide Faraoni cross-shot over the bar, then on the resulting corner Matteo Pessina’s volley flashed just wide, with Amir Rrahmani attempting a back-heel flick at the far post.
Borini also drilled wide, but against the run of play, Juventus rattled the crossbar with a Douglas Costa solo effort out of nowhere at the end of a strong run.
Verona had the ball in the net moments later, when Miguel Veloso’s free kick was floated over the top and Marash Kumbulla only grazed it with his head, surprising Szczesny. However, the goal was disallowed using VAR, much to the chagrin of Kumbulla on his 20th birthday, as his shoulder was offside.
Verona continued to swarm around Juve and the visitors kept getting the best chances, as on 36 minutes Ronaldo’s right-foot curler from the edge of the box bounced off the far post.
CR7 went close again with a similar opportunity, this time wide, with the same fate befalling his acrobatic header on Douglas Costa’s cross.
After the restart, Higuain’s strike was charged down by Koray Gunter’s elbow, but his arm was across his chest. Verona then had penalty appeals for a desperate Cuadrado tackle on Zaccagni, as they both got to the ball at the same moment and collided.
The deadlock was eventually broken by Ronaldo just days after his 35th birthday, becoming the first Juventus player to score in 10 consecutive Serie A games. He started the run from his own half on Paulo Dybala’s pass, completed a give-and-go with Rodrigo Bentancur, sprinted forward, held off Amir Rrahmani and managed to squeeze the right-foot snooker shot into the bottom corner.
Another veteran came off the bench, Giampaolo Pazzini, who immediately tested Szczesny with a glancing header, then Dybala tried and failed to dribble past Kumbulla in the box.
Verona got back on level terms thanks to their high press, forcing Bentancur and Miralem Pjanic into errors, so Borini swept it into the far bottom corner off the inside of his right boot.
Pazzini made a decisive contribution, as he flicked on a long ball for Borini, whose shot was deflected off Bonucci to go wide. On the resulting corner, Kumbulla’s header was deflected on to the crossbar by Bonucci’s raised arm. After viewing it on the VAR on-field monitor, the referee had to award a penalty, which Pazzini coolly converted.
Hellas had turned it all around in 10 minutes, so Juventus laid siege to the Verona box for the rest of the game, but failed to really test Marco Silvestri.