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Juventus pushed Crotone aside to keep in touch with the race for the Serie A title, as two header by Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half set the tone for a comfortable victory.
Crotone were The only current Serie A team, Ronaldo, had yet to score, but after failing a babysitter from a Federico Chiesa cut early on, he made peace with a big header to convert Alex Sandro’s center.
Cristiano Ronaldo drives a header across the goal for Juve’s first goal?
An important goal for Juventus on a night when they can’t afford another slip ⚫⚪ pic.twitter.com/SGb9r1pkab
– Premier Sports? (@PremierSportsTV) February 22, 2021
Aaron Ramsey then picked him to double the lead as Juve took over despite looking a bit off the beat in the first half.
They needed a victory to get things back on track and have any chance of catching the leader Inter, and the last Serie A team was doing little to deny them. All three points were confirmed when the ball landed on Weston McKennie after a crash in the area, and he fired a high shot into Alex Cordaz’s net.
Let’s get into some player rankings!
Gianluigi Buffon (GK) – 6/10 – He had exactly one save to make and easily endured an effort from Junior Messias.
Danilo (RB) – 6/10 – He had more ball touches than any other player but was a bit lazy with his distribution. Well on the defensive.
Merih Demiral (CB) – 7/10 – Does this man know how to give the ball away?
Matthijs de Ligt (CB) – 6/10 – A bit impetuous at times but he dominated Samuel Di Carmine and made his presence felt.
Alex Sandro (LB) – 7/10 – Great cross search to find Ronaldo for the first goal. Otherwise, a constant presence on the left flank.
Federico Chiesa (RM) – 6/10 – He didn’t see much of the ball, but he seemed to pose a real threat when he did, especially in the second half. We often exaggerate things by taking a touch too much.
Weston McKennie (CM) – August 10 – The more ambitious of the two central midfielders. He advanced a lot, covered a lot of ground and almost never gave the ball away. He deserved his goal after an action performance.
Rodrigo Bentancur (CM) – 7/10 – He saw the ball a lot and was always on the alert to sweep things up when one of the defenders did walkies. Rest for the 20 finalists.
Aaron Ramsey (LM) – 6/10 – Not at his sharpest and a bit wasteful in front of goal, but he was quick to pounce on a loose ball and cross for Ronaldo’s second header.
Cristiano Ronaldo (CF) – 8/10 – I missed a babysitter at first and then she scored twice with good chances. What else can you do? He seemed frustrated by his lack of a hat-trick, but the two goals did the job this time.
Dejan Kulusevski (CF) – 6/10 – It made Luca Marrone regret being substituted with some of his evasive moves on the ball. Otherwise pretty quiet.
Nicolo Fagioli (Bentancur, 70) – 6/10
Álvaro Morata (Kulusevski, 76) – 5/10
Federico Bernardeschi (Ramsey, 76) – 5/10
Gianluca Frabotta (Sandro, 86) – N / A
Alessandro Di Pardo (Chiesa, 86) – N / A