Juventus continued their winning streak after defeating resilient Napoli side in game week 7 of the Serie A. Napoli took the lead against the Turin club in the opening minutes of the first half through Dries Mertens. Juventus did not waste time after lagging behind and were desperate to score an equalizer.
The equalizer for Juventus was masterminded by Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has not been scoring the goals since joining Juventus. A few minutes before the half-hour mark, Mandzukic scored the header through Cristiano Ronaldo assist. With the scores level, just five minutes in the second half Juve took the lead, further assuring their win before the final whistle.
It was probably the best game of Serie A so far and football fans will hope that they get to witness more games like this in the future.
Here are three talking points from Juventus 3-1 win against Napoli:
#1 Ronaldo is back to his best
After spending ten successful years in Spain, Ronaldo moved to Italy, to everyone's surprise.
Ronaldo made the defender look silly after a series of stepovers, turning around the defender and crossing the ball accurately. Mandzukic was present in the box and he had a simple job of sending the ball past Napoli's net. Ronaldo was unlucky as his brilliant shot from outside the box hit the post only to land in Mandzukic's feet to score with the simple finish.
Ronaldo provided another assist with the header with a quarter of an hour left before sealing the game for the Serie A leaders. Portuguese has not been scoring goals lately for the Italian club. Though Ronaldo did not score a single goal in the game, he succeeded in providing two assists for the Italian club against Napoli.
The forward had the hands of all the three goals Juve scored. It was by many miles best performance of the forward for Bianconeri so far. Juventus and Ronaldo fans will hope that he keeps on performing like this and help the club do wonders in the future.
#2 Napoli has room to improve
Napoli were the runner-ups in Serie A last season and they sit second in the table behind Juventus.
Napoli, to everyone's surprise, took the lead against Juventus. Napoli looked more energetic and created more chances in the opening minutes of the game. Napoli was successful in creating pressure on the opposition's defence and gained the lead in the 10th minute.
After Juve's equalizer, it seemed that Napoli was not able to play the gamer as they played in the opening minutes. With the guidance of the successful manager like Ancelotti, Napoli can go on to reach newer heights.
#3 Juventus will be tough to beat
The Turin club has won all of their games of Serie A and it seems they will not stop winning anytime soon. The addition of Ronaldo in their already strong squad will increase their chances of repeating their domestic success to the European level. It remains to be seen which club will end Juventus winning streak.
Ronaldo was punished, with a red card in Champions League debut for Juve against Valencia. The Bianconeri will miss Portugal forward for a single game against Young Boys and will return to former club Manchester United. The inclusion of Portuguese in time for the Champions League will add further confidence in the Juventus squad.