In-Form Ronaldo Sends Juventus Top
13 January, 2020
Serie A
Result: AS Roma 1-2 Juventus
Date: 12 January 2020
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his form in front of goal as Juventus reclaimed top spot in Serie A with a 2-1 triumph over AS Roma on Sunday night.
Bianconeri manager Maurizio Sarri kept the same side that beat Cagliari the last time out, with Merih Demiral preferred over Matthijs de Ligt to partner Leonardo Bonucci in central defence while Aaron Ramsey was deployed just behind Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala in the front three.
Demiral fired Juventus ahead in the third minute after sticking his out his boot at the far post to turn home Miralem Pjanic's free-kick after Roma failed to clear their lines.
Sarri's charges were awarded a penalty in the ninth minute after Jordan Veretout brought down Dybala. Ronaldo stepped up and gave the visitors a two-goal lead from 12-yards out.
Roma came close to pulling a goal back in the 18th minute after Lorenzo Pellegrini pounced on a rebound from Juventus shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny' save but Adrien Rabiot was on hand to block a certain goal.
Paulo Fonseca's troops had the momentum in the closing phase of the first stanza but they just could not turn around the Juventus defence.
Roma were fired up to get back to the game early in the second stanza as Edin Dzeko nearly reduced the deficit in the 64th minute with a powerful strike that came off the post.
Moments later, Roma were awrded a penalty after Alex Sandro handled the ball from Szczesny's save, with the incident reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee. Diego Perotti made no mistake from from the spot to reduce the deficit/
Gonzalo Higuain thought he had restored a two-goal lead for Sarri's men in the last 11 minutes after going clear from Ronaldo's through ball to slot a low shot past Perez but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Pellegrini had a glorious chance to snatch the equaliser for Roma in stoppage time but he blasted his shot over the bar as the Old Lady held on for victory.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za