Ronaldo double rescues a point for Juventus

MILAN: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to salvage a point for 10man Juventus in a 2-2 draw at Roma as Napoli hammered Genoa 6-0 in Serie A on Sunday.

Champions Juventus were trailing 2-1 and a man down after an hour at the Stadio Olimpico after a Jordan Veretout brace for the hosts and Adrien Rabiot’s sending off.

But a towering Ronaldo header grabbed the equaliser in the 69th minute to avoid handing new Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo a first defeat.

“Going behind complicated things but we got an important point,” said Ronaldo.

“We’re at the start of the season, with a new coach. But the team are working well, I’m confident for the future.

Edin Dzeko was back in the Roma front line after his move to Juventus fell through, the Bosnian having missed last week’s trip to Verona which ended in a forfeit defeat for the capital side for fielding an unregistered player.

Instead new Juventus signing Alvaro Morata got his first start after his move from Atletico Madrid earlier this week.

But the champions were pushed hard by the hosts with Veretout opening from the spot in the 31st minute after a Rabiot handball.

The French midfielder added a second shortly before the break just after Ronaldo had equalised for the first time.

Another handball, this time Lorenzo Pellegrini’s, resulted in Juventus being awarded a penalty allowing Ronaldo to slot in.

The Portuguese got his second with 20 minutes to go when his head met a Danilo cross seven minutes after Rabiot was sent off for a second yellow card.

Hirving Lozano scored twice as Napoli swept past coronavirushit Genoa while AC Milan continued their winning run without Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a 2-0 victory against promoted Crotone.

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen got his first start for Napoli, having come off the bench to lift the southerners past Parma in their opener last week.

Club-record signing Osimhen again impressed against a Genoa side playing without first-choice goalkeeper Mattia Perin, who tested positive for coronavirus.

Milan meanwhile, without star Ibrahimovic who tested positive for Covid-19, also have injury woes after Croatian striker Ante Rebic fell badly on his left arm.

Franck Kessie scored their first goal from the penalty spot just before the break after a foul on Rebic, with Spaniard Brahim Diaz, on loan from Real Madrid, adding a second four minutes later.