Cagliari's Duje Cop went down under a challenge from Alex Sandro and the ball ran on to Farias who sent a deflected shot over the crossbar. Referee Fabio Maresca awarded a corner, however, after consulting with the VAR, he went over to the television monitor on the touchline, returned to the pitch, drew a television in the air and pointed to the spot. Replays showed that contact was minimal and Juventus protested but they need not have worried as a weak Farias penalty was comfortably saved by Juve's 39-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.VAR is in place for the game between Hellas Verona and Napoli in Serie A. ? pic.twitter.com/yV95sqR05A
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) August 19, 2017
Gianluigi Buffon ? Juventus have started the new season like they have never been away, Report: https://t.co/kXlWxG93BZ pic.twitter.com/68AibiKdUB— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 19, 2017"I can just say that we're lucky to have Gianluigi in goal, he's still the best," said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. "If it takes a minute and a half to make the decision, we could use that time for a time-out like they do in basketball." Instead of going in level at halftime, Cagliari found themselves 2-0 down when Miralem Pjanic hoisted a ball over the opposition backline to Dybala who chested it down and struck it past Alessio Cragno. Higuain added the third in the 66th minute with a typically clinical finish after a sweeping passing move.
Juventus coasted home and gave debuts to newcomers Douglas Costa and Blaise Matuidi, although 40 million euro ($47 million) signing Federico Bernardeschi remained on the bench. Soccer's law-making body the International Football Association Board (IFAB) authorised trials of VAR last year and is due to make a final decision on whether to approve their use permanently in March. Napoli picked up where they left off last season with another fine attacking display to win 3-1 at promoted Verona. Napoli raced into a two-goal halftime lead when a corner bounced off Verona defender Samuel Souprayen and into the net before Lorenzo Insigne set up Arkadiusz Milik for the second.FULL TIME: Buona la prima all'Allianz Stadium, #JuveCagliari termina 3-0 con i gol di @MarioMandzukic9, @PauDybala_JR & @G_Higuain! ⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/LJUn7jmvkE
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) August 19, 2017
#SerieATIM 2017/18: starts well: at Bentegodi #VeronaNapoli 1-3 ? #ForzaNapoliSempre ? pic.twitter.com/TpX5NvuLUK— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) August 19, 2017Faouzi Ghoulam finished off another Insigne-inspired move just after the hour, although Napoli had a nervous few minutes as Elseid Hysaj gave away a penalty, was sent off and Giampaolo Pazzini pulled one back from the spot.