TURIN, ITALY, July 5: Cristiano Ronaldo eventually scored a free kick for Juventus and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a historic 648th Series A appearance as the league leaders defeated their smaller neighbors Torino 4-1 in Derby della Mole on Saturday.
Ronaldo curved his shot across the wall and into the corner to bring Torino 3-1 ahead in the 61st minute, his first goal in 43 free kick attempts in just under two seasons with Juventus.
The win left Juventus with 75 points out of 30 games, seven ahead of second-placed Lazio who was home to AC Milan later on Saturday. Torino, who struggled to defeat Juventus in the last 12 tries, is 15th with 31 points.
"We took the lead right away and scored again. Maybe we thought it was going to be straightforward, but the penalty got us nervous and made us lose control of the game, "said Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri.
"At the start of the second half, we had a confusing period, and then, when the two teams were tired, our quality came out."
Buffon, 42, overtook Paolo Maldini 's Series A appearance record when he was called for his first league game this year.
Paulo Dybala put Juventus ahead with a landmark goal as the Argentinian skipped past two defenders and sliced a deflected shot past Salvatore Sirigu in the third minute.
Torino replied well and forced a flurry of corners only to be caught on the break in the 29th minute, when Ronaldo charged forward and slipped the ball to Juan Cuadrado. The Colombian outflanked his marker and scored a low shot in the far corner.
The visitors answered from the penalty for handball against Matthijs De Ligt after a lengthy VAR analysis in the first half of the game and Andrea Belotti beat Buffon to score in the fourth consecutive game.
Torino had a goal ruled out after the restart and Simone Verdi had checked Buffon with a long-range shot, but Torino 's hopes for a battle had ended Ronaldo's goal of the season in the 25th division.
Hapless Torino's substitute, Koffi Djidji, turned Douglas Costa's cross into his own net under no pressure to complete Torino 's misery just two minutes after he arrived.
