Rome: Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a long-range rocket on a night when each Juventus goal was more spectacular than the other in a 3-1 win at relegation-threatened Genoa.
Chasing a record-extending ninth straight Serie A title, the victory restored Juventus’ four-point lead over Lazio, which won 2-1 at Torino earlier Tuesday. Since losing the Italian Cup final to Napoli in a penalty shootout, Juventus has won all three of its league matches in the restart. “We produced a ton of chances and we scored three beautiful goals,” Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri said.
“That shows that our physical condition is improving.” Paulo Dybala opened the scoring shortly after the break by evading three defenders before firing in a low shot that Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin, who is on loan from Juventus, could only get a weak hand on. Seven minutes later it was Ronaldo’s turn.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner gathered a pass near midfield, charged toward the goal and unleashed a blistering effort from 22 yards (meters) into the top corner past the outstretched Perin. It was Ronaldo’s first goal in open play of the restart after converting penalties in his previous two matches, and it raised his total to 24 in 25 Serie A matches this season.
Not to be outdone, substitute Douglas Costa made it 3-0 by curling in a shot from beyond the area inside the far post as Genoa’s defense looked on helplessly. Andrea Pinamonti then pulled one back for Genoa from a tight angle. Dybala and Ronaldo had scored while playing together only once before the break for the coronavirus pandemic. Since the restart, they’ve scored together in three out of three games. “They’re looking for each other more and they’ve realized that by helping each other they can both become much more productive,” Sarri said. LAZIO COMEBACK Three days after coming back to beat Fiorentina 2-1, Lazio did it again to beat Torino by the same score.
Ciro Immobile and Marco Parolo scored second-half goals to cancel out an early penalty from Andrea Bellotti. A handball from Immobile led to Bellotti’s penalty and means the striker will miss Saturday’s game against AC Milan with a suspension. (AP)
