Serie A leaders Juventus were far from impressive yesterday but Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue with a brace as they rallied to a 2-1 win at strugglers Empoli.
The Portuguese ace converted a penalty and found the top-left corner for a seven-goal tally after the Tuscany hosts took a first-half lead from Francesco Caputo’s fourth season goal.
Juve have 28 points from 10 games, with second-place Napoli on 21 before welcoming Roma today. Caputo drilled a swerving shot into the left corner on 28 minutes to punish the indolent approach to the game of the reigning champions.
Ronaldo misfired in two occasions and nodded into the hands of Ivan Provedel, while Paulo Dybala also lacked precision and an Alex Sandro header caused no problem for the goalkeeper.
Juve woke up after the break and had Alex Sandro denied from close range before Miralem Pjanic fired against the bar.
The pressing finally led to a penalty converted by Ronaldo on 54 after Ismael Bennacer tackled Dybala. The striker stunned Provedel again on 70 minutes, firing from outside the box. It turned out to be the winner as Juve hung on in a performance marked by little precision and several technical mistakes. Atalanta beat Parma 3-0 earlier yesterday to steer clear of the lower reaches. They got a lucky opener on 55 minutes as goalkeeper Luigi Sepe parried a Josip Ilicic drive onto the legs of his defender Riccardo Gagliolo for an involuntary flick into his own net.
Jose Palomino and Gianluca Mancini then struck from close range. Atalanta have 12 points from 10 games and sit level with AC Milan and Spal. Promoted Parma have one more point alongside Genoa and Torino.