RONALDO HITS BRACE IN BIG WIN

Juventus talisman Cristiano Ronaldo showed up for the Italian Serie A champions once again this season after he scored two goals to lead the Turin giants to victory in their latest league match. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace to lead Juventus to a convincing victory over Udinese at home.

The Old Lady thrashed Udinese 4-1 at the Juventus Stadium in Turin on Sunday night thereby starting the new year on a winning note. Juventus were able to bounce back from the disappointment of ending last year on a poor note due to the unexpected defeat to Fiorentina in their last league outing before the Udinese game. Juventus were outclassed by the struggling Fiorentina outfit and they also had to play over 70 minutes with a man down as a result of the early dismissal of Colombian international Juan Cuadrado. Fiorentina secured an historic 3-0 away victory over Juventus in what was the first league defeat of the season for the defending champions.

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Juventus teammates knew that there was no margin for error against Udinese if they want to win a ninth successive league title this season and they were able to record the win needed to stay with the four teams ahead of them on the league table. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the floodgate of goals on the half hour mark to give the hosts a first half lead. New signing Federico Chiesa added a second goal for the Old Lady at the start of the second half before Ronaldo completed his brace to extend the lead for Juventus on 70 minutes. His second goal was a landmark goal which broke the record of Brazilian legend Pele for most career goals. Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 758 career goals. Udinese pulled one back through Dutch left-back Marvin Zeegelaaron the stroke of full-time before Paolo Dybala restored the three-goal lead for Juventus in added time as the Old Lady ran out 4-1 winners at the expense of their opponents.