Juventus new signing Cristiano Ronaldo failed to beat Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha in Saturday's Serie A fixture. However, his miss turned into an assist as the ball ricocheted off his heels only to rebound to his teammate Mandzukic, who volleyed it in with his right foot to double Juventus's lead.
Cristiano Ronaldo blocks his own shot and Mandzukic cleans it up. Is Cristi cursed in Serie A? #JuveLazio pic.twitter.com/yzNl0K5Pmk
— Stateside Serie A (@StatesideSerieA) 25 August 2018
After Mandzukic's goal, Ronaldo threw his arms in the air, in an action that some football fans have interpreted as an expression of anger.
Ronaldo is such a self-centered guy. He wouldn't rejoice because it wasn't him who scored that goal.
— Moses Zangar, Jr. (@mzangar) 26 August 2018
Looking at the Mandzukic’s goal — Am I the only one that feel Ronaldo care about himself before the team? 😐
— Mr.┏̲O̶̲̅┓̲P ┏̲A̶̲̅┓ (@ogbeni_opa) 25 August 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo very angry that Mandzukic scored… what type of a bitter person is this? Look how angry he looks. pic.twitter.com/W7qQjQDWhu
— Prof. Yinka (@GalacticoHD) 26 August 2018
Others, however, have dismissed this explanation, arguing that the Portugal superstar was later seen smiling and hugging his teammate.
How did I know the whole video wouldn’t be shown 😂😂. He was laughing at the end because he missed his shot and he celebrated the goal so stop trying to make him look bad.
— #GraciasCristiano (@Chanice_RM) 25 August 2018
People tweeting about Ronaldo’s reaction to Mandzukic’s goal trying to make him out to be the bad guy but play that clip for a few seconds more and you see he is smiling and hugging Mandzukic
— Mitch (@MitchProcter_) 25 August 2018
He was laughing and smiling at the miss. Then went to congratulate Mandžukić. Sorry Catalunya you’ve got a non-story here.
— Derek Stevenson (@DS_dieci) 25 August 2018
The 33-year-old former Real Madrid all-time top-scorer, who joined Juventus in a $117 million move this summer, drew another blank following a goalless debut against Chievo in the Serie A opener.
