Monday, February 22, 2021 at 10:44 PM• Last update: 22:46

Juventus booked a simple victory in Serie A on Monday evening la Vecchia Signora few problems with Crotone, who was beaten 3-0. Cristiano Ronaldo was the man of the match with two header goals. The Portuguese has now scored against all seventeen Serie A teams that came his way. Thanks to the victory, Andrea Pirlo’s team, who collected 45 points in 22 games, climbs to third place in the rankings. Leader Internazionale (53 points), which has 23 games in its legs, earlier this round won the city derby of number two AC Milan (49 points from 23 games) with 0-3.

From the first whistle, it was Pirlo’s men who continuously sought the attack. In the first quarter of the game, Danilo, Federico Chiesa and Aaron Ramsey, among others, came close to the opening goal, but none of them managed to cash in on the respective opportunities. After half an hour of play, Ronaldo missed a huge chance at the 1-0, when the Portuguese shot wide from a cross from the right for an almost empty goal. In the remainder of the first act, the goalgetter made up for his mistake twice over.

Shortly after a bet by Chiesa was tapped on the crossbar by goalkeeper Alex Cordaz, Juventus opened the score. After good combination play, Alex Sandro was given the space to deliver a tailor-made cross to Ronaldo, who nodded diagonally from close range: 1-0. The second Turin hit was also credited to the world star. After he initially saw a long shot being turned by Cordaz, Ronaldo was then able to head the 2-0 against the ropes from a cross by Ramsey, by jumping impressively above the defense.

Although the home team took their foot off the accelerator after the tea, Crotone never had the illusion that points would be dragged out of the fire. On the contrary: Juventus took it a step further halfway through the second half. A header from Matthijs de Ligt from a corner from the left was nipped in the bud, but Weston McKennie suddenly got the leather in front of his feet and without doubting the score: 3-0. In the remainder of the match, Ronaldo was still fanatically looking for his third of the evening, but in this search he came across Cordaz several times.