Ronaldo brace puts Juventus on brink of another title

TURIN, Italy (Reuters): Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, the first a penalty awarded for handball, to give Juventus a 2-1 win over Lazio which put them on the brink of a ninth successive Serie A title on Monday.

Ronaldo broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, his 50th Serie A goal, and added a second after team mate Paulo Dybala left him with an open goal three minutes later.

Ciro Immobile pulled one back for a Lazio in the 83rd minute, leaving him and Ronaldo tied on 30 goals as Serie A’s joint topscorers.

Juventus, with 80 points, are eight clear of Inter Milan with four games each to play followed by Atalanta on 71 and Lazio fourth on 69.

Only one point behind Juve when the season restarted, Lazio have lost four of their last five games after being ravaged by injuries.

“Ronaldo’s an amazing player because he has an impressive ability to recover between games,” said Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri. “I’m not so much talking about the physical aspect but the mental aspect as well.

“We need to get another four points, every point is difficult at the moment when we’re playing every three days, so we’ve got to keep focused.”