Ronaldo one shy of becoming highest goalscorer in football history

Football
By Mirror | Jan 11, 2021
Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v U.S. Sassuolo - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - January 10, 2021 Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their third goal [Reuters, Massimo Pinca]

Cristiano Ronaldo became the joint-highest goalscorer in football history with an injury-time strike for Juventus against Sassuolo.

Ronaldo drilled home at the death to give his side a 3-1 win - taking his career tally to an incredible 759 for club and country.

That meant the Portugal star joined Josef Bican at the top of the game's all-time scoring records - and will undoubtedly overtake him as the game's most prolific marksman.

Pele's Instagram bio proclaims him as 'Leading Goal Scorer of All Time (1,283)' - but there is debate over whether all of the Brazil legend's strikes were in official matches.

Bican played for clubs including Rapid Vienna, Slavia Prague and Dynamo Prague in the 1930s, 40s and early 50s, representing Austria and Czechoslovakia at international level.

Ronaldo's strikes have of course come for Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juve, while he is Portugal's all-time leading scorer with 101 goals for his country.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v U.S. Sassuolo - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - January 10, 2021 Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo in action with Sassuolo's Maxime Lopez [Reuters, Massimo Pinca]

He is Serie A's top scorer this season, with his latest goal taking his tally to 15 from 13 league games, while he has also plundered four in the Champions League.

Former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey and ex-man City man Danilo were also on the scoresheet as Andrea Pirlo's side climbed to fourth place in Serie A following a third successive win.

Juve beat leaders AC Milan last week, but struggled to create many chances against their visitors in the first half on Sunday

However, their cause was aided after Pedro Obiang was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Federico Chiesa just before halftime.

Juventus capitalised on the numerical advantage as Danilo was left in plenty of space to fire home a fierce opener in the 50th minute, but the lead lasted just eight minutes as Gregoire Defrel levelled to stun the hosts.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v U.S. Sassuolo - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - January 10, 2021, Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo scores their third goal [Reuters, Massimo Pinca]

Ramsey, who has been in and out of the side this season, put Juve in front in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season, before Ronaldo netted to write yet another chapter in the history of one of the game's greatest players.

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