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Ronaldo made his home debut for Juventus earlier. PA
Waiting Game

Ronaldo's wait for first Juve goal goes on as Italian champions see off Lazio

A huge crowd turned out in Turin for Ronaldo’s home debut.

MIRALEM PJANIC AND Mario Mandzukic netted as Juventus saw off Lazio 2-0 on Cristiano Ronaldo’s home debut on Saturday.

A packed house in Turin welcomed Ronaldo and his new team-mates and, despite a couple of nervy moments, the champions continued their winning start to the Serie A season.

Ronaldo’s wait for a first competitive goal in black and white went on as Pjanic struck a fine first-half effort to set Juve on course for victory.

Former Real Madrid man Ronaldo might have netted the second goal, but found his feet in a muddle as he seemed destined to convert from close range and the ball instead flicked backwards for Mandzukic to volley in and clinch the points.

Sami Khedira hit the post inside the opening 20 minutes when the ball ran away from Ronaldo in the area, before Federico Bernardeschi cut in from the right to draw a superb stop from Thomas Strakosha with a teasing curler.

And Juve’s pressure told on the half-hour mark as Pjanic met a bouncing ball 20 yards from goal to arrow a finish into the bottom-right corner.

Lazio gained a foothold in the game either side of the interval, but failed to forge a breakthrough, with Ronaldo coming close when he nodded wide midway through the second half.

The new Bianconeri number seven went closer still when Strakosha tipped a dipping effort over the top and that shot lifted the crowd ahead of Mandzukic’s decisive goal, where Ronaldo could not finish from close range but inadvertently teed up his strike partner.

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