Serie A: Juventus Defeats Cagliari With Ronaldo's Brace

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third brace in five games as champions Juventus moved up to second place in Serie A on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Cagliari in Turin.

AllNews understands that Andrea Pirlo's side is one point behind leaders AC Milan, who travel to, later on Sunday, to fourth-placed Napoli.

Alvaro Morata was also awarded the MVP of Serie A for the month of October before the commencement of the game at Turin.

Just before #JuveCagliari kicked off, @AlvaroMorata was awarded the MVP of the Month, Powered by @officialpes for October! ???#JuveCagliari #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/IMKdlOEqYp

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) November 21, 2020

Lazio also won 2-0 under the torrential rain at Crotone but rivals Atalanta were held 0-0 at promoted Spezia days before their Champions League trip to Liverpool.

Juventus had been held 1-1 at Lazio last time out - one of four stalemates this season for the nine-time reigning champions - but quickly took charge against the Sardinians.

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Federico Bernardeschi had an early goal ruled offside before Ronaldo struck twice in a four-minute spell before the break.

The Portuguese striker blasted in an Alvaro Morata cross after 38 minutes, latching onto a Merih Demiral nodded cross off a corner for the second from close range minutes later.

Ronaldo, 35, has come back strong after his coronavirus layoff, scoring eight goals in five games to join Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the top of the Serie A scorers' chart.

Ragnar Klavan had a goal disallowed for Cagliari midway through the second half.

FT | ⏱ | JUVENTUS WINS ?⚪️⚫️: ???????? ???????! #JuveCagliari #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/l6a4c5lTxx

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) November 21, 2020

But it was Juventus who threatened a third with Demiral, Morata, Bernardeschi, and Paulo Dybala having shots at goals.

Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt played the entire game in his first match since shoulder surgery in August, a boost for Pirlo's side without injured duo Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini before Tuesday's Champions League game against Hungarian side Ferencvaros.

Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta stalled before their big game at Anfield in four days' time, being held to a second consecutive stalemate.

Atalanta is sixth, equal on points with seventh-placed Lazio after eight games. 

"Technically it was not a good performance but there are no easy matches and the team did what they had to do," said Gasperini, whose side failed to score for the first time this season.

Diego Farias hit the woodwork for Spezia with Atalanta's Duvan Zapata denied by the post before the break.

Germany's Robin Gosens had a goal ruled offside after 56 minutes for the visitors.

Spezia, in 12th, could thank goalkeeper Ivan Provedel for the point with a double save from Mario Pasalic and Gosens, with the Croatian denied again late.