CRISTIANO RONALDO became the joint-highest goalscorer of all time after netting in injury-time for Juventus in a 3-1 home win against Sassuolo.
The 35-year-old has now equalled Josef Bican as the top of the charts on 759 goals for club and country.
Cristiano Ronaldo is now the joint-highest goalscorer of all timeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Of course there is still much debate on this, with Brazil legend Pele and his former club Santos claiming he scored over 1,000 goals.
There are questions on whether these are goals scored in ‘official’ games.
But tonight in Turin there was no doubt over Ronaldo’s personal haul.
The victory lifted the champions to fourth place in the Serie A.
Following their win at leaders AC Milan in midweek, Juve struggled to create many chances in the first half.
But their cause was aided after Pedro Obiang was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Federico Chiesa just before half-time.
Juventus capitalised on the numerical advantage as Danilo was left in plenty of space to fire home a fierce opener in the 50th minute.
But the lead lasted just eight minutes as Gregoire Defrel levelled to stun the hosts.
Former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, who has been in and out of the side this season, put Juve in front in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season.
Manager Andrea Pirlo only pockets £1.6million-per-year after taking charge of the club
Ronaldo’s golden moment came in second half injury-timeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Josef Bican now has to share top spot – and will more than likely be overtakenCredit: Getty Images – Getty
In contrast, Serie A top scorer Ronaldo took his season’s tally to 15 as he struck in stoppage-time to complete the win.
The result helped Juve close the gap with leaders Milan to seven points, having played one game less. Sassuolo stay seventh.
After scoring three times in Milan in midweek, Juves strikeforce could not get going in the first half at the Juventus Stadium.
Obiang’s dismissal, however, gave Juve a boost, with the referee issuing a straight red card after the VAR asked the official to have another look at the midfielder’s studs-up tackle on Chiesa.
Aaron Ramsey celebrates after firing Juventus aheadCredit: AFP or licensors
Danilo’s third Juventus goal settled the hosts’ nerves.
But Sassuolo, enjoying a fine season, were not overawed despite being a man down as Defrel fired them level and they had several other chances to take the lead.
Ramsey, who replaced the injured Weston McKennie in the first half, got the all-important second, arriving on cue to meet a Gianluca Frabotta cross
Then Ronaldo drilled home to make sure of a third successive win for Juve.
Cristiano Ronaldo reveals he finds it boring playing in empty stadiums and misses when fans boo him
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
