Ronaldo close to grabbing a late winner

Milan – Cristiano Ronaldo (above) was denied a last-gasp winner to save Juventus after his stoppage-time header was ruled out for offside in a dramatic 2-2 draw at Udinese, while Jose Mourinho got off to a winning start at Roma with a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina.

Ronaldo started on the bench at the Dacia Arena in Udine amid rumours he is looking for a way out of the Italian giants, but he almost snatched the three points deep into stoppage time after Juve insisted he was going nowhere this term.

After the match, returning coach Massimiliano Allegri played down the controversy, saying that he was always planning to bring on Ronaldo.

“Cristiano is OK...It’s the start of the season and seeing the condition everyone is in and thinking about the game, especially at the beginning, I put him on the bench knowing that there would be a need for him to come on,” he told broadcaster DAZN.

“He made himself available, like everyone. He played well, even scored a goal but unfortunately it didn’t stand.”

Allegri’s Juve looked to be cruising to victory when Paulo Dybala, wearing the captain’s armband, and Juan Cuadrado put them two ahead midway through the first half.

But two second-half blunders from Juve ‘keeper Wojciech Szczesny allowed Udinese to take a point through Roberto Pereyra’s penalty and a Gerard Deulofeu strike.

It was the most dramatic moment in an eventful night in the Italian top flight, with six red cards in four matches and three big-name managers returning to the touchline.

The one with the biggest reputation – Mourinho – was made happy by two assists from new signing Tammy Abraham who shone on his Roma debut.

“We were good 11 against 11, good 10 against 10, but with 11 against 10 we weren’t that good,” Mourinho told DAZN.

“I liked the spirit, the sacrifice, the work we put in after the super difficult match on Thursday. But we had difficult moments that I wasn’t expecting.”

Luciano Spalletti also triumphed on his return to Napoli, his team running out 2-0 winners over promoted Venezia and in Sunday’s other match, Bologna beat new boys Salernitana 3-2.