Ronaldo breaks record as Juventus extends lead at the top of Serie A

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the score sheet as Juventus resumed their Serie A title defence against mid-table Bologna with a 2-0 victory.

Juve is now four points clear ahead of Lazio, who will take on Atalanta on Wednesday. Juventus has won the last eight Serie A campaigns and is currently looking to bag their ninth consecutive title this season.

In the 23rd minute, Ronaldo scored from a penalty to give Juve the lead after Matthijs de Ligt was fouled by Bologna's Stefano Denswil.

It marked Ronaldo's 22nd Serie A goal this season, which is one more than what he scored during his debut campaign for Juventus in 2018 after he moved from Madrid to Turin.

Meanwhile, after scoring from the penalty, Ronaldo overtook Rui Costa to become the highest-scoring Portuguese footballer in the history of the Serie A. He now has 43 Serie A goals under his belt. Also, BBC reports that Costa had scored 42 goals after spending eight years in Serie A. Ronaldo has done it in less than half the time.

Ronaldo also happens to be the leading Portuguese scorer in La Liga's history with 311 goals in 292 appearances for Real Madrid.

In the 36th minute, Paulo Dybala scored an excellent second for his team from Federico Bernardeschi's backheel. Juventus ended the game with 10 men after Danilo was shown red card minutes before the final whistle blew.

Maurizio Sarri's side seemed to be in total control during the second half and could have scored more goals with Bernardeschi's shot hitting the post and Ronaldo's shot being ruled out for offside.

Juve's latest win will bring some relief to the Turin camp after they lost the Coppa Italia final against Napoli last week.

However, the defending Serie A champions' problems at left-back continued. Alex Sandro was already injured. Now, Mattia de Sciglio seemed to have also injured his hamstring during Monday's game. He was eventually replaced by Danilo, who in turn, ended up being suspended for picking up two yellow cards.

Also, Monday's game happened to be the first time that Juventus has scored a goal since their return to the football field after the coronavirus lockdown.

The Turin side played twice before this game, both in the Coppa Italia. They drew 0-0 with AC Milan in the semi-final before losing the final against Napoli on penalties after yet another goalless draw.