CRISTIANO RONALDO jumped to the top of the Serie A scoring standings after firing Juventus past strugglers Crotone.
The 36-year-old superstar netted twice to leapfrog Romelu Lukaku as a 3-0 win kept Andrea Pirlo’s alive in the title race.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s double helped fire Juventus back up to third in Serie ACredit: AP:Associated Press
But it could have been a 57th career hat-trick has he not somehow missed an OPEN GOAL in the first half.
Juventus were under scrutiny after defeat to Napoli had been followed by a Champions League loss against Porto, and started slowly against the league’s bottom club.
But their ever-reliable talisman arrived to meet an Alex Sandro cross in the 38th minute to finally find a breakthrough.
Ronaldo looked hungry for more and another bullet header in first-half stoppage time doubled the lead, taking his tally for the campaign to 18.
That is one ahead of Lukaku, who scored a stunning solo effort in Inter’s derby win over AC Milan.
A glaring miss at the end of the half showed Ronaldo is only human before Weston McKennie added a third goal from close range after 66 minutes after Crotone failed to clear a corner.
A first win in four matches in all competitions ensured Juve climbed from sixth to third in the table and onto 45 points, eight behind leaders Inter with a game in hand.
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Ronaldo netted two headers to leap to the top of the Serie A scoring chartsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
“The desire we have to return to the top makes me feel comfortable,” Pirlo said. “The attitude of the players also pleases me.
“When we have more players free from injury I will have more choice and this also makes me feel comfortable. We know that Inter are a great team and we know we have to fight (to win the title).”
Crotone remain rooted to the foot of the table with 12 points from 23 games, eight points from safety.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
