Ronaldo finally breaks Juve duck
In the end it couldn’t have been any easier for Cristiano Ronaldo.
It took him nearly 320 minutes to score his first league goal for Juventus and he did it with the simplest of tap-ins. Ronaldo doubled his tally shortly after as the Bianconeri beat Sassuolo 2-1 in Serie A on Sunday.
Sassuolo defender Gian Marco Ferrari could only head a Juventus corner onto the left post and Ronaldo was waiting to volley in a rebound from less than two yards out to break his duck.
Ronaldo added a second 15 minutes later when he finished off a swift counterattack with a precise finish into the bottom right corner.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was denied a hat trick by a fine save from Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, while he also mishit a clear opportunity late on.
His former team, Real Madrid lost ground in La Liga after a 1-1 stalemate at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Real, unbeaten after three games, fell behind to Iker Muniain’s 32nd-minute goal on a counter-attack.
Athletic keeper Unai Simon held Real at bay until Isco headed in Gareth Bale’s assist after the hour.
The draw put Julen Lopetegui’s men on 10 points, two adrift of Barcelona.
Manchester United punctured Watford’s bubble on Saturday, withstanding late pressure from the surprise early Premier League pacesetter to win 2-1 and relieve the pressure on beleaguered manager Jose Mourinho.
The results: Premier League: Wolves 1 (Jimenez 61) bt Burnley 0.
Serie A: AS Roma 2 (El Shaarawy 10, Cristante 30) drew with Chievo 2 (Birsa 52, Stepinski 83); Juventus 2 (Ronaldo 50, 65) bt Sassuolo 1 (Babacar 90+1); Genoa 1 (Piatek 69) bt Bologna 0; Udinese 1 (De Paul 28) drew with Torino 1 (Meite 49).
La Liga: Leganes 0 lost to Villarreal 1 (Bacca 65).
Bundesliga: Werder Bremen 1 (Eggestein 26) drew with Nuremberg 1 (Misidjan 90+3).
Saturday’s results:Premier League: Watford 1 (Gray 65) lost to Manchester United 2 (Lukaku 35, Smalling 38).
La Liga: Valencia 0 drew with Real Betis 0; Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 32) drew with Real Madrid 1 (Isco 63).
Serie A: Napoli 1 (Insigne 79) bt Fiorentina 0; Froisione 0 lost to Sampdoria 5 (Quagliarella 10, Caprari 46, Defrel 54, 86, Kownacki 83-pen)
Bundesliga: Borussia Monchengladbach 2 (Ginter 3, Herrmann 76) bt Schalke 1 (Embolo 90+3).