Cristiano Ronaldo, Miralem Pjanic Score as Juventus beats SPAL

SI Editorial | Nov 5, 2024

Jul 30, 2022; Pasadena California, USA; Juventus forward forward Dusan Vlahovic (9) moves the ball against Real Madrid during an international friendly at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This article is part of the Sports Illustrated archive. The date on this page does not represent the date when the original article was published (September 28, 2019).

MILAN (AP) Juventus eased to a 2-0 win over Spal in Serie A on Saturday as Gianluigi Buffon made Italian soccer history.

Miralem Pjanic and Cristiano Ronaldo scored in each half and it would have been worse for Spal without goalkeeper Etrit Berisha keeping the Bianconeri at bay.

At the other end, Buffon was appearing in his 903rd club game as a professional, including a season at Paris Saint-Germain, as he surpassed Paolo Maldini's record for an Italian player. With six more appearances, Buffon can break Maldini's mark for most games played in Serie A.

He was barely called into action on Saturday and his opposite number was certainly the busier keeper.

Berisha pulled off an extraordinary save to keep out Aaron Ramsey's header from point-blank range in the 43rd minute but Juventus broke the deadlock two minutes later.

Berisha could only push Blaise Matuidi's cross away and Sami Khedira knocked it down for Pjanic, whose effort was slightly deflected into the top corner.

Ronaldo was denied on several occasions but got his goal and sealed the result in the 78th when he powerfully headed in a delightful cross from Paulo Dybala.

It was Ronaldo's third goal in his five Serie A matches this season.

Juventus has five wins from its opening six matches. Inter will be looking to make it six wins out of six when it visits Sampdoria later.

The result will help Juve's confidence ahead of Tuesday's Champions League match at home to Bayer Leverkusen.

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