Cristiano Ronaldo overtakes Romelu Lukaku in Serie A top scorer race as the Juventus man scores 25 goals for 14th consecutive season

Age is just a number – as Cristiano Ronaldo continues to prove to everyone.

The Juventus forward, who recently turned 36, overtook Romelu Lukaku in the Serie A goalscoring table with two more on Monday night as Andrea Pirlo’s men beat Crotone 3-0.

Incredibly, this is the 14th consecutive season that Ronaldo has reached 25 goals, as he has also scored against every Serie A team since moving to Italy in 2018.

It only took 38 minutes for Ronaldo to open the scoring as he led the defending champions ahead.

And Ronaldo was up to the task again in the first half to double his side’s lead with another header.

The Portuguese star, however, missed a golden opportunity to complete his hat-trick after the interval with the goal at his mercy.

Weston McKennie added a third goal for Juve from close range after the hour mark when Crotone failed to clear a corner.

Ronaldo’s brace saw him overtake Lukaku (17) with 18 league goals this season, while Zlatan Ibrahmovic is third out of 14 with Lazio’s Ciro Immobile.

Juve face a huge challenge to defend their title, and are currently eight points behind leaders Inter – despite having a game in hand.

Lukaku, meanwhile, continues to show Manchester United what they lack with his excellent form for Antonio Conte’s side.

The 27-year-old is part of the club of 100 Premier League clubs, thanks in large part to successes at West Brom and Everton, but United – as well as Chelsea – might wonder if they should have been more patient with him.

Chelsea dropped the striker when he was just 21, while Man United sold him to Inter in 2019 for £ 75million, just two years after his move from £ 90million to Old Trafford.

“I think it all starts with Antonio Conte, a coach who has never been easy on him, but who believes in him and absolutely loves him from day one,” reporter Andy Brassell told talkSPORT.

“He moved heaven and earth to get him to come to Inter and I think it made a huge difference right away – because a lot of Inter football under Conte is reactive football.

“What this means for Lukaku is that he has to do a lot of things that he doesn’t really like. Sometimes he has to play with his back to the goal, sometimes he has to manage the chains …

“But I think he’s had enough of what he wants too – running on the ball, using that pace, using his strength, which is another thing.

“We know he’s changed his diet, he doesn’t spend that much time in the gym so he’s more explosive in terms of pace.

“I think the love he gets from Conte is so important and it really gave him a platform to work on.

“You have to look at the partnership with Lautaro Martinez, which is absolutely fantastic, they are creating for each other.

“He encouraged Lukaku to broaden his palette and he’s still showing up for those big games now.”