Serie A
Result: Juventus 2-1 Parma
Date: 19 January 2020
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Cristiano Ronaldo scored for the seventh straight Serie A game as Juventus defeated Parma 2-1 to move four points clear of Inter Milan.
Ronaldo returned to the Juventus line-up after being rested for the Coppa Italia victory during the week, while Matthjis de Ligt made his first league start of the new year.
The hosts enjoyed most of the possession in the early stages of the first half, but Maurizio Sarri was forced to re-shuffle his pack on 20 minutes as the injured Alex Sandro made way for Danilo.
Ronaldo nearly pulled his side ahead five minutes later after weaving his way into the box, but Parma shot-stopper Luigi Sepe was well positioned to deal with the Portuguese's stinging g effort.
After a quiet spell in the half, Ronaldo would not be denied on a second occasion as he put Juventus ahead three minutes before the halftime with a low strike that took a deflection and wrong-footed Sepe.
Parma managed to hit back 10 minutes into the second half as Andreas Cornelius rose above his marker to nod home from the corner for his seventh league goal of the season.
The visitors' joy was short-lived though as Juventus restored their lead minutes later as Paulo Dybala turned provider to pick out Ronaldo, who calmly slotted into the bottom corner for his second of the game.
The pendulum nearly swung once again with six minutes left on the clock but De Ligt popped up with a vital block in the box to deny Mattia Sprocati an equaliser.
Nevertheless, Sarri's troops were able to see out the remaining stages of the encounter to claim three points after Inter Milan dropped points at Lecce earlier in the day.
