Juve hail Ronaldo's gravity-defying leap that lifted them top

Paolo Rattini, getty

Juventus on Friday applauded Cristiano Ronaldo after his incredible leap to score the winner against Sampdoria pushed the Italian champions top of Serie A.

Ronaldo, 34, defied his age and seemingly gravity on Wednesday when he met Alex Sandro's looping cross with what the club called "no ordinary header".

"As he rose up into the air, where he seemingly hung suspended for a split second of time, Ronaldo reached an impressive height of 2.56m (8 foot 4 inches) when his head connected to the ball," Juventus said on its website.

"He jumped 71cms off the ground to nod in his 11th headed goal since joining Juventus."

The incredible goal just before half-time put Juve on 42 points, three ahead of Inter ahead of their match with struggling Genoa on Saturday.

Fans on Twitter noted that Ronaldo has previously headed goals by jumping 2.93 metres against Manchester United in 2013 and 2.61 metres against Wales in 2016.