Juventus is already third in Serie A after defeating Roma (2-0) and getting off the podium in a direct confrontation that had the hallmark of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese star turned 36 on Friday and today he celebrated as you know, with the goal that opened the scoring. The Turinese, with a game pending, are 7 points behind Inter, the provisional leader, waiting for Milan to receive the modest Crotone tomorrow.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the differentiating factor between a Juventus that, even with the former blue Arthur in the middle, did not need to dominate the game in the first half to reign on the scoreboard and a Roma that controlled and moved the ball well in the middle but lacked punch in attack. In short, the ‘giallorossi’ have not beaten a team at the top of the table this season.
Cristiano opens the scoreboard
A great action by Alex Sandro on the right that Álvaro Morata continued delaying Cristiano Ronaldo allowed the Portuguese to open the scoring after controlling with his right foot and connecting with his left a low and very tight shot from the front of the area that surpassed Pau López (13 ‘).
It is the 16th goal in Serie A for ‘capocannoniere’ Cristiano Ronaldo, who maintains his extraordinary scoring average even at 36 years of age with 23 goals in his 24 games this season in all competitions.
Only a shot from Roma in the first half
Roma, with a lot of youth in their ranks, played with personality and at a good level, but, in the absence of Pedro Rodríguez and Lorenzo Pellegrini, they only finished once on goal in the first half with a volley from Bryan Cristante, after defensive rejection, which He came out very close to the squad (21 ‘).
Instead, Cristiano Ronaldo took danger every time he touched the ball as when he received it again from Morata and unleashed a shot that, deflected by Marash Kumbulla, crashed into the crossbar (23 ‘).
And shortly before the break once again, now with a long ball, he found Cristiano Ronaldo, whose cross shot was deflected by a successful Pau López (41 ‘).
Dzeko enters but Roma does not score
After the break, the scenery did not change much, although Roma finished more on goal with a couple of attempts by Henrikh Mkhitaryan that did not surprise Wojciech Szczesny. Paulo Fonseca risked introducing three changes at a stroke by bringing in Edin Dzeko, back to the team after his conflict with the coach himself, and Carles Pérez in the lead instead of Borja Mayoral, today almost unnoticed after scoring 3 goals in his 2 games above, and Cristante.
Ibañez’s own goal sentence
Carles Pérez tried a remarkable volley that Szczesny blocked (68 ‘) before Juve sentenced when center-back Roger Ibañez pushed into the net a pass from recently entered Dejan Kulusevski that Cristiano Ronaldo was preparing to push into the net (70’).
Roma accused this own goal and, although the presence of Dzeko disturbed Juve in a couple of centers that he could not finish, he ended up throwing in the towel. And that Cristiano Ronaldo disappeared in the second part …
Juventus: Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci (De Ligt, 85 ‘), Chiellini,
Alex Sandro (Demiral, 85 ‘); Chiesa (Bernardeschi, 82 ‘), Arthur, Rabiot, McKennie (Square, 65’); Morata (Kulusevski, 65 ‘) and Crstiano Ronaldo
Rome: Pau López; Mancini, Ibañez, Kumbulla; Karsdorp (Bruno Peres, 76 ‘), Gonzalo Villar (Diawara, 62’); Cristante (Carles Pérez, 63 ‘), Veretout, Spinazzola; Borja Mayoral
(Dzeko, 63 ‘) y Mkhitaryan
Goals: 1-0 Cristiano Ronaldo (13 ‘), 2-0 Ibáñez (pp) (69’)
Referee: Daniele Orsato. Cards: AMARILLAS: Mancini (35 ‘), Arthur (37’), Kumbulla (54 ‘), Cristiano Ronaldo (62’)
Stadium: Behind closed doors at Allianz Stadium