Juventus earn late win at Atalanta without injured Cristiano Ronaldo

A brace from Gonzalo Higuain and a Paulo Dybala strike in injury time earns 3-1 win in Bergamo

Juventus' Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuain celebrates after scoring an equalizer during the Italian Serie A football match Atalanta Bergamo vs Juventus on November 23, 2019 at the Atleti Azzurri d'Show more

Gonzalo Higuain's late double helped Juventus earn a comeback win against Atalanta as Cristiano Ronaldo sat out the match in Bergamo.

Robin Gosens gave the home side a deserved lead in the second half after Musa Barrow missed a penalty before the break.

But Higuain struck twice in the final 16 minutes to turn the game on its head before Paulo Dybala sealed the points with a late strike to send Juve four points clear at the top of Serie A.

“We lost our heads after the penalty, thinking of everything except the game of football and allowed Atalanta to take total control," Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri told Sky Italia.

"They deservedly went in front. We were fortunate to score the equaliser in a chaotic move against the run of play and from there on showed belief we could win it.”

Ronaldo was left out of the squad as the Portuguese forward recovers from a knee problem ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Atletico Madrid in Turin.

They got the job done in his absence, however, to move on to 35 points at the top, although second-placed Inter Milan can move one point behind Juventus by beating Torino later on Saturday.

“I hope Ronaldo will be back for the Champions League on Tuesday," Sarri added.

"He has this little problem that is above all affecting him in training, as he’s struggling to train consistently. A lot depends on how he feels, the fatigue and the need he has at any moment to rest."

Atalanta are sixth on 22 points and have now gone four games without a league win.