Ronaldo on fire as Juventus run riot

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and created goals for Paulo Dybala  and Gonzalo Higuain as Juventus hammered 10-man Lecce 4-0 on Friday to stretch their lead over Lazio at the top of Serie A to seven points.

With Lecce’s Fabio Lucioni getting a straight red card for a clumsy challenge after 32 minutes, Juve took the lead in the 53rd when Ronaldo fed Dybala, who clipped a superb shot into the top corner. Ronaldo converted a penalty nine minutes later after being felled in the box.

A clever backheel from the Portuguese forward set up substitute Higuain to score in the 83rd minute, and Matthijs de Ligt added the fourth with a close-range header from Douglas Costa’s cross to complete the rout.

Juventus, bidding for their ninth successive Italian title, moved to 69 points after 28 games, seven clear of Lazio who have a match in hand.

Lecce remained third bottom on 25 points, behind Genoa on goal difference and one point adrift of Sampdoria in 16th spot.