The hopes of Cristiano Ronaldo of ending the season as a top scorer in the Serie A of Italy faded away on Wednesday as he could not find the net when the Champions Juventus were defeated 2-0 away at Cagliari.
The 35-year-old Portuguese footballer is on 31 goals for the season, just four behind Lazio's Ciro Immobile with just one home league fixture left to play against the fifth-placed AS Roma.
Juventus Face Shocking Defeat
Cagliari, who are 13th in the table, shocked the newly-crowned champions in the eighth minute when 20-year-old striker Luca Gagliano reacted quickest, stabbing home Federico Mattiello's pass across the box to net his first goal for the club. Things went from bad to worse for Juve in first-half stoppage time as Giovanni Simeone smashed a right-foot shot across keeper Gianluigi Buffon and in at the far post to put Cagliari two goals up.
With a first-half goal chalked off for offside, Ronaldo had plenty of chances as Juve dominated, but he found his efforts smothered by the Cagliari defense. When his teammates did manage to get a shot on target they found keeper Alessio Cragno in superb form as Cagliari held on to win.
(With agency inputs)
