Genoa 1-3 Juventus: Ronaldo spot-on once again to spare Bianconeri late in the day

Genoa, December 14: Cristiano Ronaldo's reliability from the penalty spot was once again a major factor for Juventus as the Portugal star's late brace of spot-kicks secured a 3-1 win at Genoa to spare the Bianconeri's blushes.

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Ronaldo netted two penalties in midweek as Andrea Pirlo's men saw off Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League and he repeated the feat again on his 100th Juve appearance at Stadio Luigi Ferraris to put down a resilient Genoa side.

Adrien Rabiot had a goal disallowed during the early exchanges of a generally tepid first half, though Juve did increase the pressure after the interval and made the breakthrough with Paulo Dybala's first Serie A goal of the season.

Former Juve midfielder Stefano Sturaro equalised and Pirlo's men looked destined to drop points for a sixth time this term, but hapless defending led to Ronaldo getting his double in the final 12 minutes.

400 - #CristianoRonaldo become the first player to reach 400 wins in the top-5 European League in 2000s. Lionel Messi is second in this ranking with 365 wins (Buffon third, 350). Winner.#GenoaJuve pic.twitter.com/otJ5vWuuzy

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) December 13, 2020

Juve briefly thought they had got off to a brilliant start as Rabiot bundled in at the back post following Leonardo Bonucci's header across goal, but celebrations were short-lived as he used his hand to guide the ball over the line.

Genoa otherwise did a good job of restricting Juve's flow of chances for the remainder of the first half, with the champions' only other moderately promising move in the 24th minute seeing Weston McKennie drag a shot wide as Ronaldo threatened to meet it at the far post.

Dybala eventually ended Genoa's resistance in the second half as he latched on to McKennie's flick-on from the right flank and jinked away from a defender before slotting into the bottom-right corner.

But Genoa swiftly levelled, Sturaro ghosting in at the back to tuck in Luca Pellegrini's teasing cross from a tight angle.

Juve had another goal wiped out just past the hour due to an offside in the build-up to Ronaldo's tap-in, but the former Real Madrid star was not to be denied from 12 yards, coolly slotting in to make it 2-1 winner after Nicolo Rovella's woeful attempt to tackle Juan Cuadrado in the box.

He then completed the scoring as a result of Mattia Perin clumsily fouling Alvaro Morata following a hospital pass into the area by Pellegrini.