Ronaldo reached double figures for the 15th consecutive season, something no other player has done in Europe's top five leagues.
Monday 16 December 2019 06:43, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to set yet another goalscoring landmark and help Juventus to a 3-1 home win over Udinese on Sunday that sent them back to the top of the Serie A table.
In-form Ronaldo, who has five goals in his last four games, took his tally for the season to 11 in 19 appearances, becoming the only player in Europe's top five leagues to hit double figures in all competitions in each of the last 15 seasons.
The Portugal international struck twice in the first half before Leonardo Bonucci headed in Juve's third on the brink of half-time.
Ignacio Pussetto scored a consolation for the visitors late in the game. "The most important thing was to win," Ronaldo told Sky Sport Italia.
"This is how we should play, with confidence. Individual performances aren't what matters, but the collective effort."
Udinese remain in relegation trouble after falling to 17th place on 15 points, hovering just two points above the drop zone.
Gianluigi Buffon started in goal for Juventus to match Alessandro Del Piero's club record of 478 Serie A appearances, while Ronaldo was given the rare opportunity to start in an attacking trident alongside Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain.
They needed just nine minutes to find the breakthrough when Dybala's deflected shot fell into the path of Ronaldo, who fired in a low finish from the edge of the box.
After Dybala looked to have made it 2-0 with a sublime lob only for it to be ruled out for handball in the build-up, Ronaldo scored again after 37 minutes, latching on to Higuain's through ball to smash a shot into the bottom corner.
The game was over as a contest by half-time after Merih Demiral rose to head a corner towards the six-yard box, where Bonucci was on hand to nod in off the crossbar.
Ronaldo came close to a hat-trick in the second half when his powerful shot was palmed onto the post by Udinese goalkeeper Juan Musso.
The excellent Buffon was denied a clean sheet at the death when Pussetto prodded in from close range.
Elsewhere, European hopefuls Atalanta lost 2-1 at Bologna to miss out on the chance to move into the top four.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side remain sixth after goals from Rodrigo Palacio and Andrea Poli put Bologna in command before Ruslan Malinovskiy pulled one back.
Hellas Verona completed a remarkable fightback against Torino as they recovered a three-goal deficit to draw 3-3, with all three substitutes scoring inside the final 21 minutes for the home side.
Two goals from Cristian Ansaldi either side of Alex Berenguer's strike gave Torino a handsome lead, but Giampaolo Pazzini pulled one back from the penalty spot on 69 minutes, before Valerio Verre and Mariusz Stepinski also found the net.
Real Madrid snatched a 1-1 draw away to Valencia in La Liga on Sunday thanks to a strike from Karim Benzema deep in stoppage time which came about after a header from his goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was saved.
The equaliser allowed second-placed Real to go level on 35 points with leaders Barcelona three days before they visit their arch rivals in the rescheduled 'Clasico' on Wednesday.
Spanish forward Carlos Soler had put Valencia ahead in the 78th minute of a tense and tight game, meeting a cut-back from Daniel Wass and lashing into the net from close range.
Real substitute Luka Jovic looked to have levelled in stoppage time but the effort was ruled out for offside.
The visitors, however, refused to cave in and Courtois came up to contest a corner in a last-ditch effort to salvage a point.
The Belgian headed towards goal and forced opposite number Jaume Domenech to parry the ball away and Benzema was on hand to steer the ball home on the rebound.
The goal prevented Valencia from climbing up to sixth in the standings and they were instead left in eighth on 27 points.
Elsewhere, third-placed Sevilla were shocked 2-1 at home by Villarreal, Getafe reclaimed fourth after a 2-0 win over Valladolid, and Espanyol and Real Betis, plus Celta Vigo and Real Mallorca both played out 1-1 draws.
Paris Saint Germain forwards Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi were at it again as the Ligue 1 leaders extended their advantage to seven points with a 4-0 victory at 10-man Saint-Etienne on Sunday.
Leandro Paredes struck early before Mbappe netted either side of the break and Icardi also scored to lift PSG to 42 points from 17 games as St Etienne had Jean-Eudes Aholou sent off midway through the first half.
Neymar, who set up France international Mbappe for his eighth and ninth league goals of the season, missed a penalty just after the hour.
Elsewhere, Lyon slumped to a 1-0 home defeat against Rennes and lost Memphis Depay and Jeff Reine-Adelaide to knee injuries for the rest of the season.
