Ronaldo nets a brace for Juventus

The Milan clubs are top of the Italian league with Juventus 10 points adrift of the summit having played a game less

Milan: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as champions Juventus bounced back from their first Serie A defeat of the season by beating Udinese 4-1 on Sunday to move up to fifth place.

The Milan clubs are top of the Italian league with Juventus 10 points adrift of the summit having played a game less. Leaders AC Milan stayed one point ahead of Inter with a 2-0 win over midtable Benevento despite playing an hour a man down. City rivals Inter extended their winning streak to eight league games with a dominant 6-2 victory over lowly Crotone with Lautaro Martinez bagging a hat-trick.

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But Milan restored their advantage thanks to a Franck Kessie penalty on 15 minutes and Rafael Leao’s terrific curling strike from a tight angle shortly after half-time. Sandro Tonali’s sending off after 33 minutes for a high tackle on Artur Ionita did not hold back Stefano Pioli’s side. Gianluigi Donnarumma was solid in the Milan goal while Gianluca Caprari dragged a penalty wide on the hour.

Ronaldo once again proved decisive for Juventus scoring a goal in each half to bring his league-leading tally to 14 this campaign and teeing up Federico Chiesa after the break. Paulo Dybala added the fourth deep into injury time as Andrea Pirlo’s side moved on from their first defeat of the season to Fiorentina last time out. At the San Siro, Martinez and Romelu Lukaku combined to devastating effect for Inter who have now won eight league games in a row.

The strike duo was involved in five goals although midfielder Arturo Vidal was hauled off at half-time after conceding a penalty in a woeful display. Antonio Conte’s side had been pegged back 2-2 at the break with Niccolo Zanellato scoring first with a 12th-minute header for the rock bottom Calabrians with the worst attack in the league. But Martinez picked up a Lukaku cross to pull the hosts level eight minutes later.

Martinez had a role in Inter’s second just after half an hour when Crotone defender Luca Marrone turned the ball into his own net under pressure from the Argentina forward.