Rampant Ronaldo continues scoring streak to put Juve on top

Cristiano Ronaldo stretched his goal-scoring streak to six consecutive league games as Juventus took top spot in Serie A on Sunday with a 2-1 win at Roma, whose defeat was made worse by the cruciate ligament injury of rising star Nicolo Zaniolo.

Juventus move two points ahead of Inter Milan, who were held 1-1 by Atalanta at the San Siro on Saturday, to move top after going two goals up in just 10 minutes in Rome. Turkish defender Merih Demiral found a way through after three minutes when he connected with a Paulo Dybala free-kick.

Minutes later Argentine Dybala was hauled down in the box, and Ronaldo stepped up to convert from the spot to make it nine goals in six league games.

Both sides had casualties in the first half with Demiral limping off with a knee injury not long after scoring his first Juventus goal, and replaced by Matthijs de Ligt.

And 20-year-old Zaniolo was stretchered off in tears eight minutes before the break after falling victim what Roma later confirmed was a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee as he tried to pass between De Ligt and Adrien Rabiot.

Zaniolo, who is considered one of Italy’s most exciting young talents and was a rare bright points for Roma in a torrid first half, will undergo surgery on Monday. Roma had their chances with Edin Dzeko hitting the post and Wojciech Szczesny denying Cengiz Under from point-blank range, and Diego Perotti pulled a goal back for the hosts from the penalty spot on 68 minutes after an Alex Sandro handball.

However the capital side fell to their second straight home defeat to drop to fifth, outside the Champions League places, level on 35 points with fourth-placed Atalanta and seven behind rampant local rivals Lazio after their 1-0 win over Napoli on Saturday.

Earlier Alejandro Berenguer struck the only goal as Torino beat Bologna to climb to seventh.

Hellas Verona are two points behind Torino in eighth after snatching a 2-1 win over Genoa in a game which was delayed for 15 minutes in order to redo the uneven lines of the two penalty areas.

Agence France-Presse

Italian League results on Sunday:

Udinese 3 (Okaka 14, Sema 68, De Paul 90+1) Sassuolo 0; Torino 1 (Berenguer 11) Bologna 0; Sampdoria 5 (Linetty 34, Jankto 45+3, Quagliarella 69-pen, 90, Caprari 77) Brescia 1 (Chancellor 12); Fiorentina 1 (Pezzela 82) SPAL 0; Hellas Verona 2 (Verre 55-pen, Zaccagni 65) Genoa 1 (Sanabria 41); Roma 1 (Perotti 68-pen) Juventus 2 (Demiral 3, Ronaldo 10-pen)