Juventus stayed top of Serie A with a 1-0 win over AC Milan thanks to Paulo Dybala's fine strike on Sunday after Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted for the second game in a row and walked straight down the tunnel, clearly unhappy at the decision.
Ronaldo's replacement Dybala scored in the 77th minute with a goal the Portuguese would have been proud of. After a quick exchange of passes, the Argentine twisted past Alessio Romagnoli and beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a right foot shot.
Ronaldo was taken off in the 55th minute, his earliest substitution since he joined Juve at the start of last season and the first time he has been replaced twice in succession.
Despite producing a lacklustre display, Ronaldo gave coach Maurizio Sarri a dirty look, muttered something under his breath and walked straight down the tunnel.
Ronaldo also looked unhappy after being taken off during Wednesday's Champions League match at Lokomotiv Moscow, although Sarri said it was to avoid risking injury as the 34-year-old had complained of knee and thigh problems.
Gazzetta dello Sport said Ronaldo left the stadium before the final whistle but Sarri denied there was a rift with the five-time World Player of the Year.
"There is no problem with Cristiano, and I thank him because he has played while not in perfect condition," he told reporters.
"The important thing is that he makes himself available. He gets angry when he is taken off but that is part of the game.
"It (his condition) is affecting his performances and he is not at his best at the moment. All players who are trying to give their best will have to be annoyed for at least five minutes when they are substituted."
Juventus, chasing a ninth straight Serie A title and unbeaten in all competitions under Sarri, who took over before the season started, moved to 32 points, a point ahead of Inter Milan who went top after a 2-1 home win over Verona on Saturday.
Milan's problems continued as they were left down in 14th place on 13 points after their ninth successive away defeat to Juve in Serie A.
But they gave an improved performance and had the better chances in the first half.
Misfiring striker Krzysztof Piatek headed wide from an unmarked position and Lucas Paqueta's looping header forced Wojciech Szczesny into a difficult save.
Hakan Calhanoglu also tested Szczesny in the second half with a free kick before Dybala's moment of brilliance settled the match. The Argentine nearly struck again in stoppage time but was denied by Donnarumma.
Roma knocked out of third place with defeat at Parma
AS Roma lost third place in Serie A when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Parma after Mattia Sprocati and Andreas Cornelius grabbed second-half goals on Sunday to end the visitors' six-match unbeaten league run.
Roma, playing three days after a Europa League defeat by Borussia Moenchengladbach, nearly went ahead midway through the second period when Aleksandar Kolarov rattled the woodwork with a free kick and Javier Pastore's effort from the rebound was brilliantly saved by Luigi Sepe.
Instead, Sprocati fired Parma ahead from Riccardo Gagliolo's cross in the 68th minute and Cornelius added a second on the break with the last move of the match.
Roma were overhauled by free-scoring Lazio, who beat visiting Lecce 4-2, and Cagliari, who hammered Fiorentina 5-2 at home. Both have 24 points, followed by Atalanta and Roma on 22, Napoli with 19 and Parma who are eighth on 17.
Five players shared Cagliari's goals as the Sardinians continued their impressive season - Marko Rog, Fabio Piscane, Giovanni Simeone, Joao Pedro and Radja Nainggolan, who also provided three assists.
Dusan Vlahovic scored twice late on to make the score more respectable for Fiorentina.
Serie A leading scorer Ciro Immobile took his tally to 14 this season by converting a penalty for Lazio.
Joaquin Correa put Lazio ahead on the half hour and Gianluca Lapadula replied 10 minutes later.
Sergei Milinkovic-Savic put Lazio back in front in the 62nd minute but then gave away a penalty five minutes later.
Khouma Babacar saw his effort saved by Thomas Strakosha and although Gianluca Lapadula put the rebound in, it was disallowed for encroachment.
Immobile made no mistake when Lazio were awarded a penalty to make it 3-1 and Correa then got his second for the hosts before Andrea La Mantia pulled one back for Lecce.
Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso saved a penalty from SPAL substitute Andrea Petagna in the eighth minute of stoppage time to rescue a 0-0 home draw for his side as the visitors moved off the bottom of the table.
Claudio Ranieri's Sampdoria also managed a 0-0 draw at home to Atalanta who had Ruslan Malinovskyi sent off for a second bookable offence in the 74th minute.
Lyon sunk by Payet brace after team bus attacked
Two first-half goals from Dimitri Payet gave Olympique de Marseille a stormy 2-1 win over bitter rivals Olympique Lyonnais, who complained that their team bus was pelted with missiles on the way to the Stade Velodrome on Sunday.
The match, which saw Marseille go second in Ligue 1, was also interrupted for five minutes when a laser was shone at Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and again in the second half because of smoke caused by pyrotechnics.
Photographs showed windows on one side of the Lyon bus had been smashed and club president Jean-Michel Aulas at one point threatened to pull his team out of the match.
"We were victims of an ambush," he told reporters.
"If it continues like this, we will not play."
French media said that Lyon insisted on using their highly customised and distinctive team bus despite being advised to use a more discreet vehicle.
The match went ahead and there was more chaos after Marseille were awarded a penalty.
First, Marseille forward Dario Benedetto appeared to push another player, leading to a VAR review over a possible red card, and then a laser beam was shone towards Lopes.
Payet finally converted in the 18th minute, five minutes after the spot kick was awarded, as Marseille became the first team to score 4,000 goals in Ligue 1.
The Reunion Island-born player struck again in the 39th minute after he won a tackle in midfield, found Lopez, collected the return and drilled his shot past Lopes.
The game was stopped for smoke early in the second half and it was still clearing when Moussa Dembele headed in Bertrand Traore's pass to reduce the arrears.
Marseille had Alvaro Gonzalez sent off five minutes later for a denying Dembele a clear scoring chance but the hosts held on to leave them with 22 points, eight behind leaders Paris St Germain.
© 2024 Rediff.com -