Turin: Cristiano Ronaldo marked his 600th league appearance with his 20th Serie A goal of the season as Juventus beat Spezia 3-0 on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) to move within three points of second-placed AC Milan.
The Portuguese guided in his side’s third goal late on after Alvaro Morata and Federico Chiesa struck earlier in the second half to put Andrea Pirlo’s side in a commanding position.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 20 or more goals in each of the past 12 seasons.Credit:LaPresse
Ronaldo, who also hit the post with an effort in the first half, becomes the first player to score at least 20 goals in each of the last 12 seasons in Europe’s top five leagues.
The win leaves Juve third with 49 points from 24 games behind Milan on 52 and leaders Inter with 56, both of whom are in action this week against Udinese and Parma respectively.
The gap still leaves Juventus with work to do in their quest for a 10th consecutive league title.
“If we don’t win it at the end of the season we will congratulate the winners, but we must die on the pitch first, until we’re told that there are no more points left to play for” Morata told Sky Italia.
“That’s what we must do, as long as we have a mathematical chance, we will fight until the end.”
Pirlo’s side slipped up with a draw at mid-table Hellas Verona on Saturday and knew they could not afford any more mistakes after falling 10 points behind league leaders Inter.
But they lost defender Matthijs de Ligt to injury in the warm-up and struggled in the opening period, coming closest when Ronaldo dribbled into the box and curled a shot off the foot of the post.
The double introduction of Morata and Federico Bernardeschi with half an hour remaining proved decisive, as the winger teed up the Spanish striker to score his first league goal since December within 60 seconds of coming on.
Bernardeschi was involved again as he found Chiesa in the box for Juve’s second goal, with the latter scoring on the rebound after his initial effort was parried by Ivan Provedel.
In the Premier League, Riyad Mahrez helped Manchester City continue their extraordinary run of form with a 4-1 win over Wolves.Credit:Getty
Ronaldo then broke upfield and scored with a composed finish in the 89th minute to seal the win, although Spezia squandered the chance for a consolation goal when Wojciech Szczesny saved Andrey Galabinov’s penalty with the final kick of the game.
Meanwhile, Manchester City extended their extraordinary winning run to 21 games by scoring three goals from the 80th minute to beat Wolves 4-1 and move 15 points clear in the Premier League.
Gabriel Jesus netted twice from close range and Riyad Mahrez added another goal to cap a period of incessant pressure by City after Wolves equalised in the 61st minute through Conor Coady’s header — the visitors’ first touch in City’s box.
Leander Dendoncker had given City the lead for the first time with an own goal in the 15th.
City have won every game they have played in all competitions since December 19 and have 15 victories in a row in the league. Their unbeaten streak stretched to 28 matches — tying a club record also achieved under manager Pep Guardiola in 2017.
Second-placed Manchester United can restore the 12-point gap to City by beating Crystal Palace on Wednesday.