Ronaldo off the mark as Juventus maintain 100% record

But there was controversy in Turin as Juventus winger Douglas Costa was sent off late on after being caught on camera spitting at Sassuolo’s Federico Di Francesco.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who arrived amid great pomp and ceremony following a 100-million-euro ($117 million) deal from Real Madrid,  tapped in from barely a yard out after a goalmouth scramble on 50 minutes.

The 33-year-old added a second 15 minutes later following a counter-attack orchestrated by Emre Can as the defending seven-time Italian champions moved three points clear of Napoli.

“I’m happy. I worked hard and I knew that the goals would come,” said Ronaldo.

“I thank my teammates who really helped me and allowed me to adapt to Italian football.”

Ronaldo — Real Madrid’s record all-time goal scorer — showed his frustration, however, kicking the post as he missed two more chances.

“This is football. The important thing is that the team wins. I was a little tense with all the talk after my move from Real Madrid and not scoring, so there were a lot of expectations, but I thank my teammates for supporting me throughout.”

Senegalese striker Khouma Babacar headed in a consolation goal for Sassuolo in injury-time as the side from Modena fell to their first defeat of the season.

Juventus are the only unbeaten side after Napoli inflicted a first loss on Fiorentina on Saturday with a 1-0 win ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Red Star Belgrade.

Sassuolo are third with seven points.

Bolstered by five-time winner Ronaldo, Juventus begin their quest for a first Champions League title since 1996 at Valencia on Wednesday.

“The Champions League is my favourite tournament,” said Ronaldo, who scored 15 goals in the tournament last season. “It’s a very difficult group, we know that we can do well and Juve must focus on being the best.”

– Roma, Inter confidence dented –

Roma’s confidence was dented ahead of their daunting midweek trip to Champions League holders Real Madrid, as bottom club Chievo came from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.

Stephan El Shaarawy and Bryan Cristante put Roma, who lost to AC Milan before the international break, firmly in command at half-time.

But Chievo, beaten 6-1 by Fiorentina last time out and on minus points after being deducted three points by the Italian football federation for false accounting, battled back in the second half.

Valter Birsa pulled a goal back in the 52nd minute, with Polish striker Mariusz Stepinski sealing a point for the club from Verona seven minutes from time.

“This was a game we had under control, we should have killed it off. This can’t happen against Real,” said Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco.

The Roma coach added: “We’ll be going out to challenge Real Madrid on Wednesday. We mustn’t lose our heads, even if these results destabilise us.”

Roma are eighth with five points from four games — already seven points adrift of Juventus — and also behind city rivals Lazio who won at Empoli with Marco Parolo scoring the only goal.

Inter Milan slipped to 14th with a shock 1-0 home defeat by Parma on Saturday ahead of their European opener against Tottenham at the San Siro.