Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as defending champions Juventus thumped Spezia 4-1 at the Stadio Alberto Picco in La Spezia on Sunday.
Ronaldo was named on the substitutes’ bench two days after the club announced that he had tested negative for Covid-19 and no longer had to quarantine.
The 35-year-old replaced Paulo Dybala 11 minutes into the second half with the game locked at 1-1 after Tommaso Pobega had cancelled out Alvaro Morata’s opener.
Three minutes later, Ronaldo was released by Morata and he rounded goalkeeper Ivan Provedel to put the visitors ahead.
Adrien Rabiot then made it 3-1 before Juve was awarded a penalty in the 74th minute after Federico Chiesa was fouled in the penalty box.
Ronaldo then stepped up and scored with a deft Panenka penalty to seal the win which sent the club up to third on 12 points, four behind leaders AC Milan.
Ronaldo had missed five matches for both club and country after testing positive for Covid-19 on October 13. One of those matches was a highly anticipated match against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona in the Champions League.
