01 November 2020
Cristiano Ronaldo came off the bench to score a brace as Juventus swept aside Spezia 4-1 at Dino Manuzzi Stadium in Cesena on Sunday afternoon. Alvaro Morata opened the scoring in the first half, by Ronaldo and Rabiot put the result beyond a doubt.
Having not won a game since Matchday Two, the Bianconeri knew they had to return to Turin with three points, and they did that! Andrea Pirlo welcomed the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, after a 19-day absence due to Covid-19, and he started from the bench while Morata and Dybala lead the attacking line.
MORATA OPENS ACCOUNT
Juventus were the first to threaten the opposition’s goal when Morata struck an angled drive that smacked the side netting, while Dybala saw his curling left-footed effort sail around the post by inches. The Spaniard striker did make it 1-0 in the 15th minute when Danilo fed McKennie into the box, the American unselfishly played the ball across the face goal to an open Morata who tapped it into the back of the net. Chiesa nearly doubled the lead seconds later with a strike that sailed just past the bottom of the upright.
POBEGA RESPONDS
Morata had the ball in the back of the net again, but it was flagged for offside. Spezia found themselves equal at 1-1 in the 32nd minute when a quick counterattack saw Pobega’s shot take a deflection and go into the back of the net. The half wrapped up with an excellent chance to Juventus when Morata received a looping ball: he ran up field and into the box, and played the ball across goal to McKennie – looking to return the favour from before – but Chabot slid across goal and pushed it out the far post just as Weston was approaching.
RONALDO COMES ON & SCORES
Ronaldo came on in the 56th minute of play and needed just three minutes to have an impact on the game. Morata played the ball to him between two defenders, he rounded it past the onrushing Provedel and blasted it into the back of the net to hand the Bianconeri the lead. Spezia had a goal of their disallowed for offside: Buffon pulled off a great save to deny Chabot’s header, but the rebound fell to Agudelo who fired it over the line only for the flag to be raised.
RABIOT SCORES, RONALDO CONVERTS A PENALTY
Pirlo then introduced Ramsey and Rabiot just after the hour mark, and the Frenchman was the second substitute to change the face of the game when he blasted the ball past the Spezia goalkeeper after having rounded his marker. Juventus were then awarded a penalty in the 75th minute after Chiesa was brought down in the box. Cristiano Ronaldo stood up to take the spot kick and he converted with a cheeky chip over the goalkeeper to make it 4-1. That wrapped up the match in Cesena, with the Bianconeri claiming all three points.
Spezia: Provedel; Ferrer, Chabot, Terzi, S Bastoni; Bartolomei, Ricci, Pobega; Verde, Nzola, Farias
Juventus: Buffon; Demiral, Bonucci (Kulusevski 78’), Danilo; Cuadrado (Frabotta 78’), Bentancur (Rabiot 62’), Arthur, McKennie (Ramsey 62’), Chiesa; Morata, Dybala (Ronaldo 56’)
Subs: Szczesny, Pinsoglio, Frabotta, Ramsey, Rabiot, Bernardeschi, Portanova, Ronaldo, Kulusevski
