Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half brace and Weston McKennie’s second half strike ensured Juventus bounced back with three points after defeating Crotone 3-0 on Monday evening at the Allianz Stadium.
RONALDO HEADERS SENDS JUVE FLYING
Crotone were the first to threaten at goal through Reca: he got onto the end of a chipped cross, Danilo slipped in front of him and he attempted to side foot it at the near post, but it went wide of goal. The game had a good ebb and flow to it, with the ball moving across the field with pace. The Bianconeri then won a free-kick inside the D, which saw Ronaldo blast it straight into McKennie, it then resulted in Crotone going on the counter, as they forced a save from Buffon. De Ligt then had a shot whisk just wide of goal, before Ramsey turned Chiesa’s cross onto the crossbar with his head. Juventus did eventually take the lead in the 39th minute when Alex Sandro floated in a cross into the box, it met Ronaldo who did what he does best, and he nodded it into the back of the net! A second goal was turned six minutes later by Ronaldo when he got onto the end of Ramsey’s cross to leap up into the air and turn it in for a second header.
MCKENNIE’S MAGIC
The Bianconeri started the second half looking to build onto their two-goal advantage: Danilo blazed his effort over the bar, while Ronaldo’s effort was denied by the foot of Cordaz. Juve did eventually make it 3-0 in the 66th minute when De Ligt’s header falls into the path of McKennie: he let it bounce before then smashing it home from close range. Messias let rip from range but it failed to test Buffon, while Ronaldo directed his free-kick over the target as Juventus took all three points.
Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Danilo, De Ligt, Demiral, Alex Sandro (Frabotta 86’); Chiesa (Di Pardo 86’), Bentancur (Fagioli 70’), Ramsey (Bernardeschi 75’), McKennie; Kulusevski (Morata 75’), Ronaldo
Bench: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Dragusin, Frabotta, Bernardeschi, Di Pardo, Fagioli, Peeters, Morata
Crotone (4-4-2): Cordaz; Pedro Pereira, Magallan, Golemic, Luperto; Messias, Molina, Vulic, Reca; Ounas, Di Carmine