'Messi can't do that': Cristiano Ronaldo powers home header to secure Juventus victory on injury return

Cristiano Ronaldo once again showed his worth to Italian champions Juventus as he powered home a second-half header to secure three points in a 2-0 win against SPAL after recovering from an adductor injury on Saturday.

Ronaldo added the second goal of the game with a far-post header from a Paulo Dybala cross to extend Juventus' unbeaten start in Serie A as Maurizio Sarri's men continue to march towards what would be a ninth successive Scudetto. Miralem Pjanic gave Juventus the lead with a stunning curling strike just prior to halftime.

The Portuguese was forced to miss Juventus' recent win against Brescia because of the niggling thigh injury but was declared fit to compete on Saturday and put in a typically industrious performance, playing all 90 minutes in the process.

The goal - the 697th of his career - prompted controversial UK figure Piers Morgan to claim on social media that "Messi can't do that", referring to the Ronaldo's finish.

Morgan recently conducted an interview with Ronaldo and has been vocal in his support of the five time Ballon d'Or winner since it was released online, which could in part explain his 'trolling' of Lionel Messi on Twitter.

While the Ronaldo vs. Messi debate will no doubt continue to rage so long as both are active players, others took to Twitter to highlight Ronaldo's work rate on the pitch and his effectiveness as a goalscoring threat - particularly in a game in which he was supposedly lacking fitness.

Coincidentally, Lionel Messi is also currently struggling with an adductor injury which looks set to rule him out of action at Barcelona for their next fixture and judging by Saturday's evidence in the Allianz Stadium, the bar has very much been set on how one returns from such an ailment.