Udinese 1-2 Juventus: Player ratings as Cristiano Ronaldo inspires late Juventus comeback

Cristiano Ronaldo rescued three points at the death for a struggling Juventus side against Udinese in a 2-1 victory on Sunday.

Having officially relinquished their title to Inter earlier on Sunday, Juve started the game lethargically and were punished for their approach after just ten minutes when Nahuel Molina finished off a quickly-taken free kick. The Old Lady dominated possession for the rest of the half but, aside from a Weston McKennie chance from a corner, never looked like equalising.

Andrea Pirlo's side were slow out of the blocks after the break, again plagued by the same issues. Udinese were happy to sit back and keep a disciplined shape, before springing beyond a non-existent Juventus press on the break without having to burst through the gears.

Udinese's Jens Stryger Larsen skipped beyond Rodrigo Bentancur and curled a shot just wide after 66 minutes, while Juve's advances were stopped with precision in their own half. Cristiano Ronaldo scraped back an equaliser after 83 minutes from the penalty spot after earning the spot kick from a free kick, ending a run of three games without a goal.

The first inspired a dramatic second, as Ronaldo bagged a brace in the 90th minute to turn the game on its head from nothing.

Ronaldo's goals bailed Pirlo out after his side put in another disappointing performance, but crucially kept them level on points with both Atalanta and Milan in the Serie A table.

In a rather bizarre afternoon in Udine, here's how I Bianconeri rated.

JUVENTUS PLAYER RATINGS

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Wojciech Szczesny (GK) - 5/10 - Got a touch on the opening goal and thus should've been stronger to keep it out.

Danilo (RB) - 6/10 - A couple of decent tackles from Danilo and positioned well to stop any counterattacks from developing on occasion.

Mathijs de Ligt (CB) - 5/10 - Little for De Ligt to do defensively. Beyond starting attacks for his side - if you could call them that - the Dutchman could only watch on from the back.

Leonardo Bonucci (CB) - 5/10 - The veteran skipper was sucked into a few cheap challenges at times, but otherwise was left frustrated as his side failed to make the most of their possession.

Alex Sandro (LB) - 6/10 - One of Juve's only real threats in the first half. Sandro was keen to bring the ball forward and try to fashion chances for his attacking colleagues.

2. Midfielders

Juan Cuadrado (RM) - 5/10 - The Colombian put in crosses from the right flank with fleeting success, but mostly lacked the quality to feed his attackers.

Rodrigo Bentancur (CM) - 4/10 - Solid in halting opposition build-up, but equally as solid at slowing down his own side. Bentancur lacked any quality on the ball and struggled to set a tempo from the midfield.

Weston McKennie (CM) - 5/10 - Headed wide from point-blank range in the first half - that had to be the equaliser for his side. Positive in spurts, but McKennie lacked the quality or mentality to grab the game by himself.

Federico Bernardeschi (LM) - 3/10 - Failed to assert himself in one-v-one situations and looked bereft of creativity. Bernardeschi must do more with the game time afforded to him in the absence of Federico Chiesa.

3. Forwards

Paulo Dybala (ST) - 6/10 - Forced a save out of Simone Scuffet in the first half, but it was never a significantly troubling effort which summarised a lack of service. Frustrating afternoon from Dybala, who did look dangerous on the occasion he was afforded a run with the ball.

Cristiano Ronaldo (ST) - 9/10 - Absolutely nowhere to be seen all afternoon to summarise a woeful Juve performance. Turned up ten minutes from time, however, to bag a fine brace and keep his side in the top four fight, because that's what Ronaldo does.

4. Substitutes

Dejan Kulusevski - 6/10

Alvaro Morata - 6/10

Felix Correia - 6/10

Adrien Rabiot - 7/10 - Provided the all-important, match-winning assist to Ronaldo.