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MILAN – Cristiano Ronaldo marked his recovery from the coronavirus by scoring two goals on his return to help Juventus beat newly promoted Spezia 4-1 in the Italian league on Sunday.
Juventus were struggling to knock Spezia down until Ronaldo was substituted in the 56th minute. Three minutes later they put Juventus 2-1 up and also converted a penalty to seal the score for the Bianconeri.
“We had a good game, we should have been more clinical in the first half and finish the game earlier,” said Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo.
“Then we did well when we came out again in the second half, wanting to win the game, and Cristiano gave us a hand.”
Juventus were third, four points behind the starting leader AC Milan, who beat Udinese 2-1 thanks to a late goal from Zlatan Ibrahimović. Surprising Sassuolo came within two points of Milan with a 2-0 win at Napoli.
Ronaldo had been out for three weeks after testing positive for Covid-19 while on international duty. The Portugal forward missed three Juventus games: draws with Crotone and Hellas Verona in Serie A, as well as a defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League.
Ronaldo came off the bench against Spezia and Álvaro Morata replaced him again in the starting eleven.
Morata had three goals discarded for offside against Barcelona on Wednesday and the flag was raised again when he fired from Weston McKennie’s assist in the 14th minute, but this time the video review came to his aid and the goal was scored.
Morata did have a goal disallowed for offside shortly after, and Spezia equalized when Tommaso Pobega’s shot was deflected inward.
Ronaldo replaced Paulo Dybala early in the second half and had an immediate impact as he ran to Morata’s pass, circled the goalkeeper and scored on an empty goal.
Substitute Adrien Rabiot extended Juve’s lead and the Bianconeri received a penalty when Paolo Bartolomei bumped into Federico Chiesa.
Ronaldo stepped forward and brazenly nailed his kick to the back of the net.
Ibrahimović continued to roll back the years with an aerial kick with seven minutes remaining to snatch all three points from Milan, who extended their unbeaten streak to 23 games.
He also set up the opener for Franck Kessié. Ibrahimović, 39, who recently recovered from the coronavirus, has already scored seven goals in his last four league games.
Milan took the lead in the 18th minute with a magnificent team play. Ismaël Bennacer sent a long ball over the top that Ibrahimović lowered with his chest and held before passing it to Kessié, who launched it into the upper right corner.
Udinese equalized early in the second half when Alessio Romagnoli fouled Ignacio Pussetto and Rodrigo de Paul converted the penalty.
Just as the game looked to be heading for a draw, Ibrahimović reacted faster in the area to acrobatically hook the ball to the back of the net. AP
