Juventus' forward Cristiano Ronaldo (3rdL) celebrates after scoring his goal during the Italian Cup semifinal first leg football match against Inter Milan at San Siro stadium in Milan. (Photo | AFP) 
Football

Ronaldo nets 2 as Juventus beats Inter in cup semifinal first leg

Inter had beaten Juventus 2-0 two weeks ago in Serie A and coach Antonio Conte was looking to maintain supremacy over his former club.

PTI

MILAN: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help Juventus fight back to win 2-1 at Inter Milan in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal.

Ronaldo netted a penalty and took advantage of a horrendous defensive error on Tuesday to give his side the advantage ahead of the second leg.

Lautaro Martínez had given Inter an early lead.

Napoli hosts Atalanta in the other semifinal on Wednesday, with the return legs scheduled for next week.

The final is on May 19.

Inter was without key forward Romelu Lukaku for the first leg.

He was suspended for accumulated cards following his spat with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in last week's quarterfinal win over AC Milan.

Inter had beaten Juventus 2-0 two weeks ago in Serie A and coach Antonio Conte was looking to maintain supremacy over his former club.

That seemed to be going to plan when Martínez slotted Nicolò Barella's cross under Gianluigi Buffon in the ninth minute.

But Juventus was awarded a penalty when Ashley Young appeared to haul back Juan Cuadrado, and Ronaldo struck the spot kick into the roof of the net to level in the 26th.

Juventus completed the comeback nine minutes later.

Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni and Samir Handanovic got into a mixup after the goalkeeper had rushed off his line, and Ronaldo pounced to race behind them and deposit into an empty net, off the base of the far post.

PM Modi backs women’s quota, announces youth initiatives in Independence Day address

Independence Day address: Brought 650 new universities, doubled medical seats since 2014, says PM Modi

India strong contender to host 2036 Olympics, nationwide talent hunt for 5 to 15-year-olds: PM Modi PM

Exclusive | Second instance of AI flight hydraulic fault in 10 days

Supreme Court asks Kukis, Nagas to plan for reopening of national highways

SCROLL FOR NEXT