Juventus stroll to win over Chievo despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty miss

Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2019 by PA

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty but Juventus still cruised to a 3-0 Serie A win over Chievo.

Douglas Costa and Emre Can hit the net before Daniele Rugani headed a late third as Juve made it 18 wins out of 20 in extending their unbeaten league streak.

Brazil winger Costa claimed his first Serie A goal in 18 games to kick-start Juventus’ comfortable victory stroll.

Former Liverpool midfielder Can then doubled the tally before the break, for his first Juventus goal since making the move from Anfield last summer.

The win restores Juve’s nine-point lead over second-placed Napoli, with The Old Lady bidding to extend their record-breaking Serie A title-winning streak to eight.

Juventus powered through the entire 2011/12 season unbeaten to kick off their current era of Italian top-flight dominance.

And despite a rare errant night in front of goal from Portugal talisman Ronaldo, there is little evidence to suggest they cannot repeat that feat this term.

Former Real Madrid star Ronaldo missed a clutch of second-half chances aside from his penalty miss, to end the night empty-handed.

But that mattered not, as Paulo Dybala’s creative talents conjured high-quality goals from two unlikely sources.

Former Bayern Munich man Costa strolled onto Dybala’s neat ball on the halfway line before embarking on a jinking run to put Juve on the front foot.

The 28-year-old then set himself on the edge of the area before lashing an angled 20-yard shot into the bottom corner.

And when Dybala bamboozled the Chievo defence Germany midfielder Can kept his composure to double the hosts’ lead.

Argentina star Dybala skinned three defenders before threading a fine ball into the box for the lurking Can, who produced a fine two-touch finish to leave the visitors dumbfounded.

Juventus turned around in full control and intent on making hay on the scoresheet after the break.

The runaway league leaders had not betted on Ronaldo missing a penalty however, but that was precisely what unfolded.

Mattia Bani was booked for a handball, gifting Ronaldo the chance to extend the hosts’ lead, but Stefano Sorrentino guessed correctly and tipped the spot-kick around his left-hand post.

Just when Juve thought their second-half toil would end without reward though, up popped the unmarked Rugani to nod home Federico Bernardeschi’s free-kick.