Cristiano Ronaldo, Douglas Costa Score Sensational Goals in Juventus's Title Chase

The Juventus duo turned on the style to help their club in its title chase.

Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have shaken off the rust he displayed in Juventus's first matches after the restart.

The Portuguese star scored a sensational goal in a 3-1 win over Genoa on Tuesday, taking off from just inside the Genoa half before firing home a 25-yard blast to double his side's advantage on the day.

Juventus entered Tuesday with a four-point lead over Lazio, who came from behind to beat Juve's city rival Torino earlier in the day. Juve made sure that lead was restored, but it took a little while. Paulo Dybala broke the deadlock in the 50th minute, before Ronaldo hit his stunner to make it 2-0. He had been held scoreless in the club's two Coppa Italia matches after a three-month layoff, before connecting for penalty kicks in each of the last two Serie A matches. What he did Tuesday, however, was that of a player who has his legs back under him.

Douglas Costa may have one-upped his teammate some 17 minutes later. The Brazilian winger cut inside and displayed some quick footwork before uncorking a perfect curling blast from 20 yards inside the far upper 90 to give Juventus a 3-0 edge.

The duo will look to keep it going in Juventus's next match, a Turin derby vs. Torino on Saturday before consecutive matches vs. AC Milan and Atalanta. Juventus is attempting to win a ninth straight Serie A title, and it remains alive in the Champions League as well, trailing Lyon 1-0 after the first leg of their last-16 series. It's unclear where that second leg will take place, with the quarterfinals and beyond being staged in Lisbon, Portugal, as a single-leg knockout tournament between Aug. 12 and 23. Ronaldo, surely, would relish the opportunity to return to his home country with a chance to win Europe's top prize again.


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Avi Creditor
AVI CREDITOR

Avi Creditor is a senior editor and has covered soccer for more than a decade. He’s also a scrappy left back.