MILAN: Cristiano Ronaldo ended his San Siro hoodoo as Juventus bounced back from their midweek Champions League defeat by Manchester United with a 2-0 win over 10-man AC Milan in Serie A on Sunday, as Gonzalo Higuain missed a penalty before being sent off for the hosts.

Higuain left Juve in the offseason following the signing of Ronaldo and he had a nightmare game as he was also sent off seven minutes from time for dissent after being booked for a foul on Medhi Benatia.

Mario Mandzukic headed in the opener in the eighth minute at the San Siro with Ronaldo adding a second on 81 minutes as Juve restored their six-point cushion over second-placed Napoli ahead of the international break.

It was Ronaldo’s first goal in six matches at San Siro, having previously played at the iconic stadium for Manchester United and Real Madrid and it got the defending seven-time Serie A champions back on track after suffering their first defeat of the season by United following two late goals despite Ronaldo’s stunning volley.

“Winning tonight was the only way to put aside what happened in the final five minutes of the Champions League game,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.

“It was important to win without conceding a goal and to regain the six-point advantage over Napoli who are having an excellent championship.”

Milan slipped to fifth, a point behind fourth-placed Lazio, after seeing its three-match winning run in the league brought to an end.

Earlier on Sunday, Inter Milan were thoroughly outclassed in a 4-1 loss at regional rivals Atalanta as they slipped nine points behind Juve.

Hans Hateboer gave Atalanta an early advantage with a tap-in and although Mauro Icardi equalised with a penalty two minutes into the second half, Gianluca Mancini headed home in the 62nd minute to restore Atalanta’s lead with Berat Djimsiti and Alejandro Gomez sealing all three points for the hosts late on.

Stephan El Shaarawy scored a brace as AS Roma got back to winning ways with a 4-1 success over Sampdoria to move up to sixth, within three points of the Champions League places behind Lazio and AC Milan.

Lazio drew 1-1 at Sassuolo, while Empoli beat struggling Udinese 2-1 and rock-bottom Chievo Verona earned a 2-2 draw at home against Bologna to move onto zero points, having had three deducted for false accounting.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018