Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo rolled back the years with a brilliantly taken goal to reach the 100-goal landmark for Juventus, who beat Sassuolo to bounce back from their defeat to Milan at the weekend.
With Juve’s top four hopes hanging in the balance, a win at the MAPEI Stadium was vital and the visitors survived conceding an early penalty to take all three points and keep the pressure on Milan and Napoli in the battle for Champions League football.
The Bianconeri gifted Sassuolo the chance to take the lead after just fifteen minutes when Leonardo Bonucci fouled Giacomo Raspadori, but Gianluigi Buffon saved Domenico Berardi’s spot kick. Having escaped punishment for Bonucci’s error, Juve took the lead on 28 minutes through Adrien Rabiot’s left-foot shot from outside the box.
Ronaldo’s goal came just before half time and was largely his own work. Racing onto a pass from Rabiot, the Portugal captain outwitted Brazilian defender Marlon with his first touch to cut inside and calmly finish with his left foot. The goal was Ronaldo’s 27th of the season in Serie A as well as his 100th in the Juventus shirt.
With the landmark, Ronaldo reached 100 goals for the third different club, having previously notched 118 for Manchester United and a club-record 450 with Real Madrid. Ronaldo has, of course, also surpassed a century at international level with 103 goals for the Seleção.
Juventus eventually ran out 3-1 winners after Raspadori did finally score for the hosts but Paulo Dybala made the game safe, after which Ronaldo struck the post after more dazzling footwork. With two matches left to play, 5th place Juventus are relying on others to slip up in order to secure Champions League football, finding themselves three points behind Atalanta and Milan and a point behind Napoli.
Next up for Ronaldo’s men is a home match against newly-crowned Scudetto winners Internazionale in Turin. The clash comes just three days before Juve meet Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final, leaving boss Andre Pirlo with much to think about in balancing his priorities.
By Sean Gillen
