Allianz Stadium (Turin) – A dominant Juventus side were made to work by Bologna, but eventually came away with a 2-1 win at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo bagged his 702nd career goal, but a stunner from Danilo levelled the scoreline. However, Miralem Pjanic, with his third of the season, put Juventus ahead and was enough for the three points.
That extended Juventus’ unbeaten home run to 25 games, the longest current streak in Serie A, and gave Maurizio Sarri his eighth win in his first 10 matches on the Bianconeri bench.
It also puts Juventus four points clear of Inter at the top of Serie A, though the Nerazzurri play on Sunday.
Juventus were dominant from the off and took the lead through Ronaldo who pounced on a mistake from Ladislav Krejci and rifled low past Lukasz Skorupski at the near post.
The advantage lasted just five minutes as Ibrahima Mbaye flicked a Riccardo Orsolini cross onto Danilo, and unmarked at the back post, he half-volleyed into the opposite corner.
After the break Juventus should have taken the lead again as Adrien Rabiot got to the goalline and his low cross to Federico Bernardeschi was poked out by Krejci, then Skorupski had to be alert to tip over a close range Ronaldo header.
The goal did eventually come when Roberto Soriano passed the ball to Ronaldo inside the area, and his blocked shot fell to an unmarked Pjanic and he side-footed into the net.
Skorupski kept Bologna in the match as he denied Gonzalo Higuain on three occasions, while also beating away a Bernardeschi effort, and tipping a Ronaldo shot over the crossbar
An Orsolini cross had to be pushed out by Gianluigi Buffon as it was dipping into the top corner, before a deflected ball fell into the path of the Bologna No.7, but he completely fluffed his lines and miscued, resulting in a goal kick.
In the final moments Bologna thought they had a penalty when the ball bounced and struck De Ligt on the arm, but referee Massimiliano Irrati decided against it after consultation with VAR.
Buffon was the hero at the death after Federico Santander hit the crossbar with a header, then the Paraguayan’s overhead kick was tipped away by the Juventus legend.
