Ronaldo double leads Juve demolition job
Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus took out their frustration on Parma as the Bianconeri swept to an ominous 4-0 win in Serie A on Sunday (AEDT).
After a midweek draw at home with Atalanta, in which Ronaldo missed a penalty, Juventus was out to make amends on its travels and did so resoundingly.
Ronaldo scored twice to take his tally to a league-high 12 from nine Serie A appearances, going two clear of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku.
He became only the fourth player score at least 33 Serie A goals in a calendar year in the process.
Ronaldo equalled former Juventus forward Omar Sivori's goal haul from 1961 – the joint-third most in a single year behind Gunnar Nordahl (36 in 1950) and Felice Borel (41 in 1933).
He could move further up the list as Juventus has one more league match to play in 2020 – a home meeting with Fiorentina on Wednesday (AEDT).
Ronaldo's 33 goals have come from 174 attempts – at least 67 more than any other player – giving him a shot conversion rate of 27.73, which compares to 28.26 for Ciro Immobile, who is the next highest scorer this year in Serie A with 26 for Lazio.
The Portugal international has scored 27 with his stronger right foot, four with his left and two via his head.
His efforts followed an opener from Dejan Kulusevski, the winger who dazzled on loan with Parma last season but now belongs to the impressive array of Juve attacking options.
Another from that forward line, Alvaro Morata, headed a late fourth to secure the victory and all three points, lifting Juve to third spot on the table, level on points with second-placed Inter Milan and just one point off leader AC Milan, both of which play their games in hand on Monday (AEDT) against Spezia and Sassuolo respectively.