Ronaldo On Target Again As Juventus Go 11 Points Clear In Serie A
11th February 2019
The Serie A champions had been held by Parma last week despite the Portugese forward's double
- Cristiano Ronaldo headed in his 18th league goal this season as Juventus bounced back from last week's stalemate to soar to an 11-point lead in Serie A on Sunday with a 3-0 win at Sassuolo
- Ronaldo proved decisive, scoring after 70 minutes as Sami Khedira found the net first in Modena with fellow German Emre Can slotting in the third four minutes from time
- Now they have left second-placed Napoli trailing after Carlo Ancelotti's side were held to a goalless draw at Fiorentina on Saturday
MILAN, Italy-
Cristiano Ronaldo headed in his 18th league goal this season as Juventus
bounced back from last week's stalemate to soar to an 11-point lead in Serie A
on Sunday with a 3-0 win at Sassuolo.
Ronaldo proved
decisive, scoring after 70 minutes as Sami Khedira found the net first in
Modena with fellow German Emre Can slotting in the third four minutes from
time.
The Serie A
champions had been held by Parma last week despite the Portugese forward's
double.
Now they have left
second-placed Napoli trailing after Carlo Ancelotti's side were held to a
goalless draw at Fiorentina on Saturday.
Paulo Dybala again
started on the bench coming on late for the champions, to help set up the third
goal, with coach Massimiliano Allegri saying he needed to find the right
balance.
"Ronaldo and
Dybala can certainly play together and they will do, but we need everyone to
work hard in order to keep the team balanced," said Allegri.
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"It all depends
on who you are playing against. Sassuolo have a strong midfield, so I had to
balance my team that way today.
"Players are
disappointed, but every now and then sitting on the bench is necessary to
recharge batteries and rediscover the right mental toughness."
Juventus had started
slowly with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saving twice in the opening minutes as
the champions were without injured defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio
Chiellini.
The pair are
fighting to be fit for Juventus's European Champions League last 16 trip to
Atletico Madrid in 10 days' time.
Juventus broke
through after Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli rushed out to parry a Ronaldo
shot leaving the way clear for Khedira to turn in the rebound after 23 minutes.
It was the German
international's second league goal of his injury-hit campaign, after scoring
the opening goal of the Serie A season against Chievo on August 18.
Consigli denied
Federico Bernardeschi just before the break with a Khedira header flying wide.
But Portuguese star
Ronaldo jumped highest after 70 minutes to meet Pjanic's corner for his fourth
goal in his last three league games to bring his tally to 20 goals for Juventus
in all competitions.
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The 34-year-old
celebrated by mimicking Dybala's 'mask' goal celebration.
Argentine Dybala
came off the bench seven minutes from time along with Can and was involved in
the buildup for the final goal with Ronaldo proving the assist.
Inter Milan are
third -- 20 points behind Juventus -- after beating Parma 1-0 on Saturday, for
their first league win of 2019.
Atalanta are fourth,
five points behind, after battling to a 2-1 win over SPAL, with Roma fifth and
Lazio sixth after beating Chievo and Empoli respectively during the week.
AC Milan host
Cagliari later on Sunday looking to reclaim fourth place.