Milan: Cristiano Ronaldo marked his 100th game for Juventus with a pair of penalties in a 3-1 success over Genoa on Sunday, as the champions closed the gap on Serie A leaders AC Milan who were held at home against Parma.
French defender Theo Hernandez’s brace rescued a point at the death for AC Milan who came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Parma in the San Siro.
Milan’s lead on second-placed Inter was cut to three points after Antonio Conte’s side staged a 3-1 comeback win at Cagliari.
Napoli, in third, are a further point adrift after beating Sampdoria 2-1, equal on points with nine-time reigning champions Juventus.
Playing without injured top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Milan had looked set for their first league defeat this season.
Hakan Calhanoglu rattled the woodwork three times with Brahim Diaz also hitting the post for the hosts before Hernani put Parma ahead after quarter of an hour in the San Siro.
The Brazilian midfielder then set up Jasmin Kurtic for the second after 56 minutes.
But two minutes later Hernandez headed in off a Calhanoglu corner with the French defender adding a second in injury time.
In Genoa, Paulo Dybala got his first league goal of the season for Juventus in the 57th minute and Ronaldo sealing the points with two late strikes from the spot after Stefano Sturaro had levelled for the hosts after an hour.
The Portuguese forward’s goals have taken him level with AC Milan star Ibrahimovic as leading scorer in Serie A with 10 goals this season, for a total of 79 since joining Juventus in 2018.
“What better way to celebrate my 100th game for Juventus, than scoring two more goals for the team?” Ronaldo said on Twitter before vowing to reach 100 goals for the reigning champions.
Juventus, 3-0 winners at Barcelona in the Champions League during the week, came out firing with Adrien Rabiot having a goal disallowed after two minutes.