MILAN, Jan 23: Cristiano Ronaldo continued his scoring streak with the opener as Juventus cruised past AS Roma 3-1 in their Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday, scoring all their goals in the first half.
Gonzalo Higuain set Ronaldo free down the left and the irrepressible Portuguese fired his shot into the far corner in the 26th minute to claim his 13th goal in the last 10 matches he has played in.
It was also his first-ever Coppa Italia goal, making it the 15th club competition he has scored in during his career out of 17 he has taken part in — the exceptions being England’s Community Shield and the old UEFA Cup.
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Rodrigo Bentancur exchanged passes with Douglas Costa to score the second in the 38th minute and defender Leonardo Bonucci headed the third from a Costa cross on the stroke of halftime.
Roma went out at the same stage last season with a 7-1 loss at Fiorentina and it looked like they might go down by a similar scoreline this time.
But Paulo Fonseca’s side improved in the second half and pulled one back five minutes after the break with a Cengiz Under shot which hit the bar, bounced off goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and into the net and was given as an own goal by the 41-year-old.
Juventus will face either AC Milan or Torino in the semi-finals.
