Cristiano Ronaldo and Merih Demiral scored on Sunday as Juventus defeated Roma 2-1 in their Serie A clash at the Stadio Olimpico. Meanwhile, the win also saw Juve retaining the number 1 spot in Italy’s top-flight competition.
Within three minutes of the starting of the match, Juventus drew the first blood courtesy Merih Demiral. Paulo Dybala delivered in a free-kick into the box which met Demiral at the far post, who tapped the ball into the back of the net from close range to make it 1-0.
Star striker Ronaldo then doubled the lead in the 10th minute after the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Dybala inside the box. Ronaldo took the spot-kick sending Roma shot-stopper Pau Lopez in the wrong direction and making the scoreline 2-0.
Despite several attempts from both the sides after the goal, the scoreboard remained unchanged till the break.
However, in the second half, Roma bounced back in the match with the goal of Diego Perotti. In the 65th minute, Aleksandar Kolarov’s header touched the hand defender Alex Sandro. The referee then awarded a penalty to Roma upon consulting with VAR, as the verdict adjudged Sandro to have handled the ball prior to Juve goalie Wojciech Szczesny’s saves. Perotti stood up to cash in on the golden opportunity, making the scoreline 1-2.
However, the hosts failed to level the scores and Juventus bagged the much-needed 3 points to lead the table, surpassing Inter Milan.