Juventus vs Sassuolo LIVE: Cristiano Ronaldo scores his first goals in Serie A as Douglas Costa sees red
Cristiano Ronaldo continues his search for a first goal since joining Juventus in the summer as they take on Sassuolo in Serie A looking to maintain their perfect start to the season.
The £100m acquisition has not been able to rekindle his incredible goalscoring feat from his Real Madrid days since arriving in Turin, but manager Massimiliano Allegri believes today is the day for Ronaldo to break his duck after insisting “he will score” against Sassuolo. Ronaldo should at least head into the game fresh as he was left out of the Portugal squad during the international break in order to focus on his new club, having shown signs of fatigue after his World Cup commitments.
But the Modena-based Sassuolo are one of the surprise packages in Italy this season, as they head to the Allianz Stadium unbeaten this season following wins over Genoa and Inter Milan and a 2-2 draw with Cagliari.
Red Card! Costa gets sent off via VAR, he made two horrendous challenges and spat on a player, the last act of the match was the ref pulling out the card before blowing the whistle
Sassuolo pull one back, Costa makes two horrible challenges in defence but the ball comes into the box and Babacar gets there first heading the ball past the goalkeeper
Short corner for Juve, Costa loses possession and Sassuolo break, Cuadrado makes the tackle but the visitors attack now on the right Babacar shoots and Szczesny stops it with ease
Sassuolo still move forward, a goal now would make it an interesting final few minutes, Cancelo is brought down and Juve have it back, the ball comes to Costa who bombs forward and shoots, but he pulls it wide of the target
Oh Cristiano! Cancelo shoots from outside of the box forcing Consigli into a diving save the ball ricochets out to Ronaldo who taps a left footed shot wide of the near post
It's coming! Ronaldo has another chance, Costa finding him with a cross to the far post and Ronaldo dinks it wide, he kicks the post in frustration knowing he should've scored
Ronaldo goes down in the penalty area but the referee is unmoved, Sassuolo respond with Duncan who arrows a shot at the top corner and Szczesny makes a strong save
It was always coming for Ronaldo, he's looked hungry for goals all game, if Sassuolo keep pushing forward looking to score themselves then don't rule out a third for the star man
The visitors have had a tough time of it in this half, Juve have upped the pace and tempo but Sassuolo have a free kick in Juve's half, the balls whipped it in, headed away and Duncan tries a wonder strike that's very high over the bar
Ronaldo's acting like a shark that smells blood in the water, he's finding space, running into the box and getting shots off, a second goal is definitely on the cards here
Marlon wins a foot race with Ronaldo to clear the ball away from his own goal but Juve have the ball back, they're more comfortable on the ball in this half Matuidi flicking the ball into the box looking for Ronaldo but Ferrari clears it
49 minutes: GOAL! Juventus 1 - 0 Sassuolo - Ronaldo
That's the easiest goal Ronaldo will ever score, the cross comes in from a corner and finds Ferrari at the back post, he heads it onto the post for some reason sending Consigli onto the floor and the ball comes to Ronaldo who tap it in
Juve restart the game, they've got 45 minutes to keep their 100%win record going and they almost go in front immediately, Mandzukic gets a shot off from inside the area but sends it wide
Juve have dominated possession so far in the first half but Sassuolo haven't been cowed, they've played the ball up from the back and looked threatening in attack, but there's been some mistakes in defence that could prove costly if they continue and the game goes the distance
Cancelo takes a corner for Juve that sails over everyone, Dybala tidies up and tries to return the ball into the box, it's cleared away into the path of Djuricic who takes a shot on goal but Bonucci gets back in time to defend and that'll be half time
Sassuolo have been impressive and bewildering at the same time, they defend solidly against a Juve counter, closing off Ronaldo's passes leaving the home side to hit deep balls into the box that are easily cleared
Juventus vs Sassuolo kicks off at 2:00pm BST [3:00pm CET] on Sunday 16 September.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on Eleven Sports 2 from 1:50pm BST [2:50pm CET]. You can sign up with Eleven Sports for a 7-day free trial, with subscription costing £5.99 per month or £59.99 per year thereafter.
