Cristiano Ronaldo scored his fifth Serie A goal but a wasteful Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Genoa on Saturday.
The result ended the Old Lady’s perfect start to the season. Juventus looked destined for an 11th win in as many games across all competitions this season when Ronaldo put them ahead in the 18th minute.
However, they failed to put the clash to bed and were made to pay when Daniel Bessa headed in a second-half equaliser.
RONALDO FEELING AT HOME
After a rather slow start to life at Juventus by his standards, Ronaldo is starting to look more like himself.
Massimiliano Allegri was immediately impressed with the club’s star summer signing from Real Madrid despite his failings in front of goal early on. The Italian noted Ronaldo’s sophisticated movement and suggested the midfielders must get on the same wavelength to supply him with passes.
The understanding between the Portuguese and his team-mates seems to be improving with every game. He started on the left flank against Genoa but floated across the forward line. Not only are the likes of Mario Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado now adapting to his movement, but the midfielders are starting to pick him out as well.
Whether it’s Miralem Pjanic trying a ball over the top to find Ronaldo’s run in behind or Cuadrado picking the forward out at the near post for a header (which crashed off the crossbar), Juventus are nearly perfectly in tune with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
The evidence is there for all to see as well. Having scored again, Ronaldo has now had a direct hand in more goals this season (nine) than anyone else in Serie A. It’s now five goals and three assists for the 33-year-old in his last seven games.
He also reached another landmark with that effort, becoming the first ever player to score 400 goals in the top five European leagues.
Cristiano Ronaldo is starting to enjoy himself.
PIATEK RUN ENDS
It had to happen some time and Krzysztof Piatek’s phenomenal goal-scoring run has finally come to an end. The forward had scored in every Serie A game since making his Genoa debut in the opening week, bagging nine goals in seven games.
However, he has fallen at the eighth hurdle and short of legendary striker Gabriel Batistuta’s record run of 11 consecutive scoring games with Fiorentina in the 1994/95 Serie A campaign.
The Poland international had a couple of good chances early in the second but a low effort was denied by Wojciech Szczesny before his header from Bessa’s corner was directed wide of the goal.
Piatek remains the league’s leading scorer this season and has helped Genoa to their mid-table position so far but was shackled by a formidable central defensive pairing of Leonardo Bonucci and Mehdi Benatia.
Juventus kept a close eye on Krzysztof Piatek (l).
