Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Serie A hat-trick to lift Juventus top of the table with a 4-0 win over Cagliari on Monday as Zlatan Ibrahimovic was not enough for AC Milan as he made his debut in a goalless draw against Sampdoria.

Portugal forward Ronaldo struck for the fifth consecutive league game to move the champions back above Inter Milan in their first match since the Italian SuperCup defeat to Lazio in Saudi Arabia last month.

'I'm happy with this first hat-trick. But the important thing is the team, which played very well,' said Ronaldo.

'We had to win to go ahead and put Inter under pressure.'

Maurizio Sarri's side had been pegged back in the first half by the sixth-placed Sardinians who have been pushing for a spot in the Champions League places this season but fell to their third consecutive defeat.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan