Juve stutter again as Ronaldo secures draw

Cristiano Ronaldo

Juventus needed a 79th-minute equaliser from Cristiano Ronaldo to rescue a 2-2 draw in the Turin derby against relegation battling Torino on Saturday, leaving the champions’ Serie A title defence in tatters.The pressure was on Andrea Pirlo’s side to produce a convincing performance after suffering a 1-0 loss to lowly Benevento before the international break, and they started strongly as Federico Chiesa scored after 13 minutes.But striker Antonio Sanabria soon headed Torino level, before latching onto a careless Dejan Kulusevski backpass to fire his side in front in the opening minute of the second half.Ronaldo headed in from close range to equalise but he was flagged for offside, before a VAR review overturned the decision and allowed the goal.Juve slipped to fourth place on 56 points, nine behind leaders Inter.Torino moved onto 24 points, two clear of the relegation zone in 17th place. Meanwhile, Napoli survived a spirited fightback from bottom side Crotone to earn a 4-3 win and go fourth, as the fierce battle for Champions League qualification continued.Lorenzo Insigne and Victor Osimhen struck for the hosts before Simy pulled one back, but Dries Mertens’ free kick restored Napoli’s two-goal cushion before the break.The visitors launched a comeback in the second half as Simy prodded in his second before Junior Messias curled in a stunning equaliser in the 59th minute. Nigeria international Simy’s double continued a superb run of form that makes him the top scorer in Europe’s top-five leagues since the start of March with eight goals.But the relegation battlers could not hold on as Giovanni Di Lorenzo rifled in a shot to put Gennaro Gattuso’s side back in front after 72 minutes.Napoli climbed one point above Juventus, into fourth place on 56 points, but they remained two points behind Atalanta in third after the Bergamo club beat Udinese 3-2. Luis Muriel struck twice in the first half to take his tally to 18 league goals for the season before Udinese’s Roberto Pereyra pulled one back.Duvan Zapata drilled in the Bergamo side’s third before Luca Gotti’s side reduced the deficit again on the 71st minute through Jens Stryger Larsen.Lazio clinched a vital win and climbed into sixth place as Felipe Caicedo scored an 88th-minute penalty to beat Spezia 2-1 in Rome. Manuel Lazzari’s opener was cancelled out by a spectacular bicycle kick from Spezia substitute Daniele Verde before the late spot-kick, but Lazzari and Joaquin Correa were sent off for the home side in stoppage time.Results:AC Milan 1 (Hauge 87) Sampdoria 1 (Quagliarella 57)Atalanta 3 (Muriel 19, 43, Zapata 61) Udinese 2 (Pereyra 45, Stryger Larsen 71)Napoli 4 (Insigne 19, Osimhen 22, Mertens 34, Di Lorenzo 72) Crotone 3 (Simy 25, 48, Messias 59)Lazio 2 (Lazzari 56, Caicedo 89-pen) Spezia 1 (Verde 73)Sassuolo 2 (Traore 57, Raspadori 85) AS Roma 2 (Pellegrini 26-pen, Peres 69)Benevento 2 (Glik 23, Ionita 67) Parma 2 (Kurtic 55, Man 88)Torino 2 (Sanabria 27, 46) Juventus 2 (Chiesa 13, Ronaldo 81)