The result was not easy to come by for Juve, with returning
goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saving an early penalty, but goals from Adrien
Rabiot, Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala meant they stayed fifth, two points off the
Champions League qualification places.
Buffon, who announced this week that he is leaving the club
at the end of the season, replaced Wojciech Szczesny in goal and immediately
showed he has lost none of his ability as he brilliantly kept out Domenico
Berardi's spot-kick.
The chances kept coming for the home side, and their
profligacy proved costly as Rabiot drilled home the opener in the 28th minute,
before Ronaldo reached another milestone just before the break with a cool
finish from the edge of the area.
Sassuolo continued to do everything but score, until Giacomo Raspadori finally beat Buffon just before the hour mark.
But Dybala also reached a century of Juve goals, with a fine
dinked finish, to ensure they kept pace with their top-four rivals Atalanta, AC
Milan and Napoli, who all won in the latest round of matches, with two games to
play.
Elsewhere on a busy night in Serie A, AC Milan thrashed
Torino 7-0 to stay third and Atalanta cruised to a 2-0 win over Benevento, who
remain deep in the relegation mire, to remain second.
Spezia earned a vital point in a 2-2 draw at Sampdoria to
move four points clear of Benevento in 18th, while Cagliari's fine
end-of-season form continued as they held Fiorentina to a 0-0 stalemate to move
five points clear of the drop zone.
Lazio left it very late to get the better of relegated
Parma, with Ciro Immobile's 95th-minute winner keeping them within touching
distance of the top four on 67 points. Simone Inzaghi's side, however, have a
game in hand on the rest.
But for Juve, with the pressure mounting on coach Andrea
Pirlo after a meek surrender in a 3-0 loss to Milan at the weekend, it was
imperative they did not drop more points.
"It was important to win tonight, we were so poor in
the match with Milan," Rabiot told DAZN. "We wanted to do more, we
suffered but the attitude was the right one."
"We are all angry, Juve must do better. We must try to
win the last two games and see what happens."
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