Ronaldo’s Juve blank Roma

MILAN (AP):

Cristiano Ronaldo marked his birthday by setting up Juventus to beat Roma 2-0 in Serie A on Saturday.

Ronaldo turned 36 on Friday then showed little sign of slowing down as he scored and also hit the crossbar in the first half. An own goal by Roma defender Roger Ibañez sealed the win for Juve.

Juventus leapfrogged Roma into third place. They are five points below leaders Inter Milan, which won at Fiorentina 2-0 on Friday. AC Milan can retake top spot today with a victory over bottom-placed Crotone.

Juventus have played a match less than Inter and Roma.

The match in Turin was a head-to-head for third place but also came between the two legs of the Italian Cup semi-finals between Juventus and Inter, with the Bianconeri leading 2-1.

RONALDO UNMARKED

Juventus took the lead in the 13th minute when Alex Sandro spun away from his marker to roll across for Álvaro Morata, who laid it off for a criminally unmarked Ronaldo to fire into the bottom right corner.

Ronaldo also scored both goals in Tuesday’s win over Inter.

Ronaldo almost doubled his tally nine minutes later but his effort came off the underside of the bar and bounced on the wrong side of the line for Juve.

Roma had more of the possession but couldn’t make it count and Juventus doubled their lead in the 69th.

Juan Cuadrado found Dejan Kulusevski in the area and he crossed for Ronaldo. Ibañez got there first but managed only in turning the ball into his own net.

Meanwhile, relegation-threatened Torino fought back from three goals down to draw at Atalanta 3-3 in an extraordinary match in Bergamo.