Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed the headlines as his first and second goals for Juventus gave the Bianconeri a 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon with Kevin-Prince Boateng and Alfred Duncan in action for the visitors.
The two Ghanaians played the entire duration of the game but could not prevent Ronaldo from stealing the show even though Duncan forced a brialliant save from the Juventus keeper.
A cagey Allianz Stadium was quelled after Ronaldo broke his Juventus duck 50 minutes in, mirroring last season with Real Madrid in which he scored on his fourth appearance of the season from his 28th shot.
His second came 15 minutes later with a wonderful finish after Emre Can put the forward in on goal, increasing Juventus’ winning streak over Sassuolo which now stretches to six consecutive matches, despite Khouma Babacar bagging a late consolation for the away side.
In time added on, Douglas Costa was given his marching orders after spitting in the face of Federico Di Francesco.
A surreal match saw Juventus start off in their usual dominant fashion, though they struggled to break down the Sassuolo backline, and the closest they came to scoring was via an own goal.
Pol Lirola hooked a cross towards goalkeeper Andrea Consigli who made a smart reaction save to keep the score level. While at the other end, Filip Djuricic had the ball past Wojciech Szczesny, but it was ruled out for offside.
Just five minutes into the second half, the moment everyone had been waiting for, as Ronaldo poked the ball into to back of the net from just a couple of yards out after Gian Marco Ferrari tried a cushioned headed backpass.
Fifteen minutes later, a wonderful diagonal pass from Emre Can put the Portuguese superstar in on goal and he made no mistake, firing into the far bottom corner, sending the Juventus fans wild in the process.
Sassuolo did try to get themselves back into the game as Alfred Duncan forced a brilliant stop from Szczesny. Meanwhile Ronaldo flashed another effort wide of goal.
The chances kept falling to Ronaldo, this time Joao Cancelo’s long range strike was kept out by Consigli, with the follow up falling to the Juventus No.7 but he fired wide.
Then in the dying minutes Babacar bagged a late consolation for the Neroverdi with Douglas Costa also sent off for Juve.