Ronaldo caps dominant win as Juve move 11 points clear

Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty to cap a dominant 3 – 0 win for Juventus over Fiorentina on Saturday as the Italian champions continued their charge to an eighth consecutive league title by opening an 11 -point lead on top of Serie A .Ronaldo slotted in his 10 th goal from 14 league games from the spot after 79 minutes , to add to Rodrigo Bentancur ’ s opener after half an hour in Tuscany with captain Giorgio Chiellini volleying in after 69 minutes .

The Portuguese star was substituted just afterward for the first time this season after receiving a yellow card , spending the last 10 minutes on the bench .

“ Great team effort . Important win, ” the five – time Ballon d ’ Or winner wrote on social media after the game .

Massimiliano Allegri ’ s side have 40 points from 14 games with second – place Napoli on 29 points before they host Atalanta on Monday .

It was Juventus ’ fifth consecutive win in the championship and 13 th in 14 games , as they have won all their away games .

“ This is a squad of great champions , great talents, but above all of great men , ” said Allegri .

“ Technique alone is not enough , you need humility … you need players who are open to chasing opponents down , of working for their teammates and going the extra yard .

“ We knew the difficulties , but we soon took command of the game , ” said Allegri , just days after his side seal their ticket to the Champions League knock -out rounds .

“ In the second half Fiorentina created problems for us but the victory was deserved .

“ When you have such talented players in attack , they don’ t need too many instructions and it ’ s important not to limit them , ” continued Allegri .

“ We just have to get the ball up to them . ”

– ‘Ugly , heavy defeat’ –

Juventus dominated the game before which tributes were paid to former Fiorentina captain and Italian international Davide Astori who died suddenly last March .

Midtable Fiorentina threatened in the second half through Federico Chiesa and Jordan Veretout but fell to their first home defeat this season , with Stefano Pioli’ s side without a win since September 30 .

“ We came up against the strongest team in Italy . It’ s an ugly , heavy defeat which I do not think it reflects the match , ” said Pioli .

“ We ’ re not where we want to be , but the goal remains Europe . ”

Juventus threatened in the opening minute with Marco Benassi sending just wide , before Fiorentina’ s Nikola Milenkovic headed off target .

Ronaldo escaped a yellow card for his late tackle on Giovanni Simeone before Uruguay international Bentancur broke through after a solo run with an angled shot low finish into the corner of the net .

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny saved two Chiesa efforts after the break with a Ronaldo freekick acrobatically saved by Fiorentina goalkeeper Alban Lafont .

Chiellini picked up the ball off a corner to turn in the second after the ball bounced up off Lafont and into the net , for the veteran defender ’ s first goal of the season .

Ten minutes later a Mario Mandzukic ’ s cross caught Edmilson ’ s arm with Ronaldo slotting in the resulting penalty before being replaced by Federico Bernardeschi after receiving a yellow card for his goal celebration .

Earlier , in a match between two sides fighting relegation , Slovenian winger Jasmin Kurtic scored headers in either half to rescue a 2 – 2 draw for 10 – man SPAL against Empoli .

On Sunday , Inter Milan , a point Napoli in third , will look to pile the pressure on Roma who have dropped to seventh .

Lazio , in fourth, will try to close the gap on the top three with a trip to Verona side Chievo , who held Napoli 0 – 0 last weekend .

AFP

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