Cristiano Ronaldo scores but goes off injured as Lazio nick Juventus draw

Cristiano Ronaldo scored again but went off injured before Lazio snatched an injury-time 1-1 draw against Juventus.

Ronaldo had given the Serie A champions an early lead with his sixth league goal of the season and third since returning at the start of the month after self-isolating due to coronavirus protocols.

But he was taken off with an apparent ankle injury in the second half and watched his side concede a 94th-minute equaliser by Lazio substitute Felipe Caicedo.

Caicedo grabbed a 98th-minute winner at Torino last weekend and notched a late equaliser in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Zenit St Petersburg, before capping a remarkable week with another last-gasp leveller to reward Lazio’s dominance after the break.

Ronaldo had set Juve on course when he turned in a Juan Cuadrado cross with just 15 minutes on the clock and he hit the post before the interval as well as seeing a free-kick brilliantly saved by Pepe Reina.

But he limped off in the 73rd minute to be replaced by Paulo Dybala and watched on with ice on his right ankle as Lazio started to assert their authority.

Juve’s defence had held out until Joaquin Correa weaved his way into the area and found Caicedo, who provided late drama with a shot on the turn to stun the visitors.

Dybala was dispossessed in the run-up to Lazio’s leveller but Juve boss Andrea Pirlo defended the player, saying: “It is not just (Paulo) Dybala, I think it is the whole team.

“When you concede a goal it’s not only one player to take the blame but the (whole) team in general because you win or lose a match as a team. We need to control these kinds of situations better and we must keep the willingness and hungriness to win matches until the very end.”

Inter drought continues, Mkhitaryan hat-trick

Inter Milan extended their winless run to four games in all competitions when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Atalanta.

Lautaro Martinez headed in Ashley Young’s cross to give Inter the lead in the 58th minute before they were pegged back by an equaliser from Aleksei Miranchuk in the 79th minute.

Inter spent the closing stages on the back foot as Atalanta, smarting from a 5-0 home defeat by Liverpool in the Champions League, pressed for a late winner.

Atalanta stay fifth in Serie A with 13 points, one place and one point above their opponents.

Elsewhere, Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted a hat-trick to help Roma win 3-1 at Genoa.

Mkhitaryan opened the scoring in first-half injury-time and though Genoa hit back through Marko Pjaca, the former Arsenal and Manchester United man struck twice (66, 85) after the break.

Genoa slipped into the relegation zone after Torino drew 0-0 with bottom-placed Crotone to move up a place on goal difference.

Crotone defender Sebastiano Luperto was sent off late on following a second yellow card.

Bologna face Napoli and AC Milan take on Verona later on Sunday.

Arab Observer