Ronaldo inspires Juventus to crush Parma in Serie A

With Paulo Dybala injured, Andrea Pirlo on Saturday evening opted for Ronaldo to partner Alvaro Morata upfront, while Rodrigo Bentancur pulled the strings in the midfield, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rome: Juventus temporarily cut its gap with leader AC Milan to one point in the ongoing Serie A as it enjoyed a 4-0 away victory to Parma, powered by a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo.

With Paulo Dybala injured, Andrea Pirlo on Saturday evening opted for Ronaldo to partner Alvaro Morata upfront, while Rodrigo Bentancur pulled the strings in the midfield, reports Xinhua news agency.

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The Bianconeri was utterly dominant and broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute as Morata’s dummy let Alex Sandro’s pass roll for Dejan Kulusevski to finish with a daisy-cutter.

Juve made it 2-0 two minutes later as Morata floated a cross from the left, Ronaldo hung in the air for an age to steer his header into the net.

Ronaldo completed his brace right after the break as the Portuguese collected a pass from Morata, taking a few touches to finish with a left-footed strike.

Morata also managed to get on the scoresheet in the 85th minute as the Spaniard just stood still to meet Bentancur’s long pass, finding the net with a twisting header.

In an earlier kick-off on Saturday, Sampdoria conquered Crotone 3-1.