Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala on Monday scored early as Juventus put their Coppa Italia final woes behind them with a 2-0 win over Bologna to move four points clear of SS Lazio at the top of the Serie A table.
Portuguese star Ronaldo had missed a penalty in the Coppa Italia semi-final against AC Milan, and drew a blank in the final, which Juventus lost 4-2 on penalties to SSC Napoli.
However, the 35-year-old made no mistake in Juventus’ first league game since beating Inter 2-0 in Turin on March 8.
Photo: Reuters
He converted a spot-kick earned by Matthijs de Ligt after 23 minutes for his 26th goal for the Turin giants in all competitions this season.
Dybala curled in the second on 36 minutes off a Federico Bernardeschi back-heel flick as Juventus, chasing a ninth consecutive Scudetto, opened up a four-point lead on second-placed Lazio.
“We need confidence and this victory will help us,” Dybala said. “It’s not easy to be brilliant right now. We hadn’t been playing for a long time. If we had won the [Coppa Italia] final, everyone would have complimented us, because on a tactical level, we have had a great game — even if we were not brilliant, but we conceded little.”
“Today we played a great game, even if after 2-0 we gave up a bit,” Dybala added.
Lazio today travel north to fourth-placed Atalanta in Bergamo, looking to keep on track their bid for a first Serie A title in two decades.
Inter, in third, are nine points adrift of Juventus, and next host US Sassuolo.
AC Milan shrugged off the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to sweep past US Lecce 4-1 and keep their bid for European soccer next season alive as 10-man ACF Fiorentina were held 1-1 by basement club Brescia.
Swedish star Ibrahimovic has yet to return from a calf injury, but Milan put their exit in the Coppa Italia semi-final behind them at relegation-threatened Lecce.
“It’s an important victory,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “Roma [in fifth] are far away at the moment, but we have to try to make as many points as possible. Ibra [Ibrahimovic] is a fundamental player for us. Without him, we had to find other solutions.”
In Lecce, Samuel Castillejo opened the scoring after 26 minutes for the visitors, connecting with a Hakan Calhanoglu cross from the right to slot in his first goal this season.
Marco Mancosu pulled Lecce level from the penalty-kick after 54 minutes, sparking an immediate Milan fightback, with two goals in three minutes.
Lecce goalkeeper Gabriel denied Calhanoglu with Giacomo Bonaventura on hand to finish off, while Ante Rebic raced through the Lecce defense for a third — and his seventh goal of the campaign.
Rafael Leao got his head to an Andrea Conti cross with Calhanoglu again involved in the buildup after 72 minutes.
Milan move up to seventh, equal on points with Napoli, who occupy the final Europa League berth before playing this week.
In Florence, Franck Ribery returned after nearly seven months out following an ankle injury, but his side settled for a third consecutive stalemate against Brescia.
Alfredo Donnarumma put Brescia ahead after 17 minutes with a penalty-kick, but Fiorentina captain German Pezzella responded with a diving header after half an hour.
Fiorentina had two goals disallowed and played the final 20 minutes a man down when Martin Caceres was sent off for a second yellow card.
The Tuscany club are 13th, with Brescia ending their three-match losing streak.
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