Serie A: Dybala stars as Juventus breeze past Udinese

Simon Foster 05:31 18/01/2016
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  • Leading light: Paulo Dybala.

    Juventus blew Udinese away at the Stadio Friuli to record their 10th consecutive Serie A victory. The reigning champions are now second after a brace from Paulo Dybala and goals from Sami Khedira and Alex Sandro confirmed an emphatic away win before the half-time whistle.

    Udinese, who had Danilo sent off when conceding a penalty, suffered a 4-0 defeat at home for the second time this season having lost to Internazionale by the same scoreline last month.

    And Dybala, who is now the joint second-top scorer in Serie A, was delighted with his double.

    “I am happy because my free kick broke the deadlock, then we all did well to make the most of the situation,” Dybala told Mediaset.

    “I had many wonderful moments in my career and this is one of the best, because we are second and I am scoring regularly for this great club. We want to continue like this and beat Roma next week, as we lost to them earlier this season.”

    Luciano Spalletti was denied victory on his return to the Roma dugout as Hellas Verona forced a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico. After a seven-year absence from the capital, Spalletti has replaced Rudi Garcia as Giallorossi boss and Radja Nainggolan gave him some early cause to be cheerful.

    Giampaolo Pazzini’s second-half penalty then secured a deserved share of the points for winless Hellas, who remain rooted to the foot of the table, 12 points adrift of safety.

    “We didn’t have a great game,” complained Spalletti. “The lads tried but we just couldn’t find the net. The result is difficult to accept, although for me there were a lot of positives.”

    Lazio fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Bologna. Emanuele Giaccherini’s long-range free-kick got Bologna up and running and Mattia Destro doubled the hosts’ lead. But the tide turned against the Gialloblu when they lost Adam Masina to a red card, with Antonio Candreva converting the subsequent penalty and Senad Lulic grabbing a late leveller.

    Genoa pulled seven points clear of the relegation zone with a 4-0 home win over 10-man Palermo. Suso blasted home the opener and Leonardo Pavoletti scored twice after Sinisa Andjelkovic had been sent off for the Sicilians. Tomas Rincon provided the Grifone’s other goal.

    Palermo are now looking over their shoulders at Carpi, who claimed three crucial points in their own battle to beat the drop by downing Sampdoria 2-1 at the Stadio Alberto Braglia.

    Lorenzo Lollo fired the Biancorossi into the lead and, after Joaquin Correa notched for Samp, Jerry Mbakogu’s penalty brought Carpi to within four points of 17th-placed Palermo. Elsewhere, Chievo and Empoli shared a 1-1 draw.

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