Ronaldo and Dybala on target as Juventus Secure Three Points Against Genoa
After their Champions League exploits in midweek, Juventus were back in action against Genoa on Sunday in the round of the Serie A season.
The Serie A defending Champions travelled to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium to lock horns with a Genoa side who are struggling in the Serie A this term. The home side however put up a fight and could have picked up a valuable point in this tie, but for a late Ronaldo penalty double.
Genoa got the proceedings underway in the first half, but as expected it was Juventus who dominated the first half, albeit without mustering up a goal. The Old Lady were sporting the same 3-5-2 formation that worked to great effect against Barcelona, but this time, it produced no result in the first half.
However, Juventus kicked into life in the second half and were in front in the 57th minute through Paulo Dybala. The Argentine international danced set himself up to score his side’s first goal following a deft flick pass from Weston McKennie. The goal was would have pleased Pirlo and eased the pressure on the team who had begun the day trailing leaders AC Milan by six points.
However, their lead did not last long as the hosts equalised four minutes later through a Stefano Sturaro goal. The former Juventus player ghosted in behind the away side defence and levelled the scores with a brilliant first-time volley that left goalkeeper Szczesny rooted to the spot.
With a flurry of changes, Juventus continued to besiege the Genoa half and once more took a deserved lead in the 78th minute with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring from the spot after Rovella had fouled Juan Cuadrado in the box.
The Portuguese who was making his 100th appearance for the club in all competition scored once more from the spot in the 88th minute after Perin had brought down Morata in the box.
The win sends Juventus back into the top four mounting pressure on the league leaders Milan who play later this evening.
