Ronaldo on target as Juve make is nine in a row

Cristiano Ronaldo was on the scoresheet as Juventus beat Sampdoria 2-0 to seal win the Serie A for the ninth season in a row.

The 35-year-old broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time with his 31st league goal of the season and Federico Bernardeschi added the second as Juve moved seven points clear of second-placed Inter Milan.

Juve, in their first season under coach Maurizio Sarri, clinched the title with two games to spare despite a stuttering run in which they won only one out of five matches before Sunday.

The Old Lady have 83 points while Inter, whose coach Antonio Conte led the Turin side to the first three titles of their present run, are on 76 and Atalanta and Lazio have 75 each.

Juve went ahead from a free kick when Miralem Pjanic rolled the ball to Ronaldo and the Portuguese swept the ball home.

Sampdoria had a flurry of chances early in the second half. Mehdi Leris sidefooted wide, Wojciech Szczesny had to turn a looping Ramirez free kick around his post and Lorenzo Tonelli sent a powerful header narrowly wide from the resulting corner.

After those let-offs, Juve doubled their lead in 67th minute. Sampdoria goalkeeper Emil Audero could not hold Ronaldo’s shot and Bernardeschi, who had replaced Danilo, snapped up the rebound.

Ronaldo’s evening ended on a sour note when he smashed a penalty against the crossbar after Alex Sandro was fouled.