Cristiano Ronaldo was on focus as Juventus beat Bologna 2-1 to move four points clear at the top of Serie A on Saturday in Turin.
The Portugal superstar scored with a low shot that crept past goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski at his near post after just 19 minutes of the clash. After missing a spot kick in a Coppa Italia match against AC Milan 10 days ago, Ronaldo made no mistake in this penalty shoot and scored the first goal after Covid-19.
The visitors hit back seven minutes later through Danilo. The 35-year-old latched on to a flick-on by Ibrahima Mbaye and smashed a half-volley past Gianluigi Buffon.
Juventus restored their lead early in the second half after some poor Bologna defending. A clever backheel by Federico Bernardeschi set up the second for Dybala who curled an unstoppable shot beyond goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.
The champions continued to carve out chances in a dominant second-half display. Skorupski was kept busy and denied a volleyed effort from Sami Khedira before making a fine double save from Gonzalo Higuain.
Ronaldo was denied a second on 80 minutes after a quick break led by Higuain. The Argentinian squared for the forward in the penalty area, and he managed a turn and shot that was acrobatically tipped clear away by Skorupski.
Juventus then survived a couple of late scares in an exciting finish. The hosts had a let-off in stoppage time after Bologna had a penalty appeal turned down. Matthijs de Ligt missed his clearance and the ball appeared to hit his arm, but the referee chose not to award a spot-kick as the ball had hit his foot first.
Bologna then threatened again from Riccardo Orsolini’s corner. The ball was headed onto the crossbar by Federico Santander and then came back out to the Bologna forward for an overhead kick which was tipped over the crossbar by Buffon.
There were no questions about the Juventus defence, however, which kept a fourth straight clean sheet in all competitions.
Juventus, with 66 points from 27 games and chasing a ninth successive title, extended their lead to four points over Lazio, who visit Atalanta on Wednesday. Inter Milan are a further five points behind in third while Bologna are 10th with 34.
The next match, Juventus welcome Lokomotiv Moscow to Turin on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League and then return to Serie A action on Saturday at Lecce.
The goal in this match was Ronaldo’s 22nd in Serie A this season, one more than the 21 he managed in his debut campaign in Turin following his move from Real Madrid in 2018. In reaching 43 goals, the 35-year-old also moved beyond Rui Costa as the Portuguese player with the most goals in Italy’s top flight. Former Manchester United star Ronaldo remains the top Portuguese scorer in Premier League history having scored 84 times in 196 appearances. He is the also the leading Portuguese scorer in La Liga history having registered 311 goals in 292 appearances for Real Madrid, where he is the all-time leading scorer.
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