Juventus cruise in comfortable win over Frosinone

IANS  |  Turin (Italy) 

Juventus added to their already formidable lead atop with a 3-0 victory against 19th-place Frosinone.

Juve, still undefeated this season in Serie A, might have been expected to see Friday's contest against Frosinone as an opportunity to rest key players ahead of next week's clash with Atletico

But left only two regular starters out of the line-up, and Blaise Matuidi, evidently with the idea of securing the three points early so he could afford to take some of his stars off the pitch in the second half.

The plan worked to perfection.

put Juve up 1-0 in the sixth minute with a blast from 20 yards out after taking a pass from

Frosinone, who came into the match at Turin's stadium after two consecutive away wins, found themselves with no answers against the seven-time reigning champions.

The hosts' lead doubled in the 17th minute when defender nudged the ball into the Frosinone net after a poor clearance by

And because no Juventus match this season seems complete without a Ronaldo goal, the Portuguese superstar scored in the 63rd minute with an assist from to make it 3-0 for the home side.

It was the striker's 19th goal in since coming over to Juventus last summer from Real

Job done, Allegri signalled a double-substitution in the 70th minute: for Ronaldo and for and defensive anchor

Juve's domination was such that they could give themselves the luxury of some tactical experimentation, with defender shifting from his usual spot on the right to take up an aggressive forward position on the left side of the pitch.

Allegri had said on Thursday at his pre-match press conference that he wanted his squad to play well against Frosinone to generate enthusiasm ahead of next week's visit to

Italy's winningest club has set its sights on hoisting the trophy this season. The Bianconeri reached the final in 2015 and 2017, only to lose to and Real Madrid, respectively.

--IANS

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First Published: Sat, February 16 2019. 12:12 IST