Cristiano Ronaldo closed in on another personal milestone with his goal contribution in Juventus' win over Crotone on Monday night's. The 36-year-old Portuguese superstar hit two first half goals as the Bianconeri ran away with a 3-0 victory over the relegation-battling side.
After a relatively slow start in terms of goalscoring, the breakthrough finally arrived in the 38th minute as the former Real Madrid ace rose the highest to meet Alex Sandro's cross from the left flank. Three minutes later, he added another one via the same manner, this time, being on the receiving end of Aaron Ramsey's cross.
USMNT star Weston McKenie then provided the finishing gloss with Juve's third in the 66th as his side closed the point gap between them and Serie A leaders Inter Milan to eight. For Cristiano Ronaldo, the goal took him right to the top of the goalscorer's leaderboard. The Portuguese has now scored 18 goals in 19 appearances for the Old Lady.
CRISTIANO RONALDO WITH A FIRST HALF BRACE! pic.twitter.com/S0GyKTSMGD
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 22, 2021
The significance of his goal contribution in the win over Crotone, however, transcends the current status of the topscorer's chart. As the records show, Ronaldo has now scored against all Serie A clubs except Chievo Verona since moving to Juventus in 2018. The four-time Ballon d'Or winner also closed in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's record of scoring against the most different clubs in Europe's top-five leagues in the past two decades. The Swede's tally stands at 79 as against the former's 78.
In addition, Ronaldo has now scored 25 or more goals in each of the last 14 seasons. Having failed to cross the 40-goal mark in the past two seasons, the odds are now in favor of the forward getting that haul with a massive chunk of matches left. He has so far made 28 appearances across all competitions.
