WATCH: Dazzling Paulo Dybala Inspires Juventus to Storm Past Udinese
Juventus cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Udinese at the Allianz Stadium, with a Paulo Dybala double sealing the three points for Max Allegri's men.
After a sluggish start, Dybala opened the scoring midway through the first half - curling a superb, dipping free kick into the top corner.
The home side spurned a glorious opportunity to double their lead before half time, as Gonzalo Higuaín had his penalty saved by the Udinese keeper, Albano Bizzarri. Dybala scored his second of the afternoon early in the second half with neatly placed finish, before his side went on to saunter to a comfortable win.
Juventus started the match looking to dominate possession, as Udinese sat back and focused on their defensive positioning; poised to counter-attack when given the opportunity. It was the visitors who had the first chance of the game, with Ali Adnan's whipped free kick almost catching out Wojciech Szczęsny - who sprawled to palm the shot behind for a corner.
I Zebrette were buoyed by their early opportunity, and began to pressure their opponents into giving away possession. As the game approached the quarter hour mark, Juve began to find their stride - with Douglas Costa starting to find gaps in the Udinese defense. Paulo Dybala gave his side the lead in the 19th minute, curling a stunning free kick into the top corner.
Soon after, following impressive dribbling work by Adnan down the left wing, Udinese right back Silvan Widmer had a powerful effort deflected over the bar from 20 yards out. Juventus started to dominate the midfield, with Claudio Marchisio pulling the strings with expert passing precision.
Juventus were awarded a penalty soon after, as Gabriele Angella tripped Dybala in the penalty area. However, Higuaín saw his penalty saved spectacularly by Albano Bizzarri, who launched himself down low to his right to palm the ball behind. Giorgio Chiellini came close to scoring as the game approached half time, but his header flew narrowly over the Udinese crossbar.
The visitors started the second half brightly, with Chiellini being forced to make two last ditch challenges to prevent Udinese getting a shot on goal. In the 48th minute, Juventus powered up the field with an impressive counter attack, before Higuaín bullishly held up the ball at the edge of the area - slipping through Dybala to slide home an deadly accurate finish to double the lead.
Sami Khedira had a chance to put the game to bed as the game ticked into its final half hour, but blazed a wild shot over the bar after finding himself unmarked in the middle of the opposition penalty area. The game opened up as Udinese desperately threw men forward to try and pull a goal back, with the visitors beginning to look tired after their midweek game.
Costa continued to cause chaos, and lead a surging move forward that almost saw his side score again. The tenacious Brazilian flew up the middle of the pitch, before finding Higuáin wide on the right. The powerful forward struck a tantalizing ball across the face of the goal, but the onrushing Blaise Matuidi wasn't quick enough to get on the end of the pass.
With ten minutes left on the clock, Costa burst forward again, before sliding a pass wide to Dybala. The Argentine international cut inside, and saw his fiercely driven shot palmed wide by Bizzarri; denying him a hat trick. Moments later, substitute Andrija Balić slipped passed his marker, before arrowing a long range drive just wide of Szczęsny's far post.
With the game nearing its conclusion, Juventus ripped Udinese apart thanks to a flowing move orchestrated by substitute Mario Mandžukić, who's neatly worked one-two with Dybala saw his teammate in an ideal spot to bag his hat-trick, but his shot was well saved by the Udinese keeper.
Juve cruised to victory, putting the icing on the cake to a week which had already seen them triumph over Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League. I Bianconeri's win saw them take a temporary lead over their title rivals Napoli at the top of the table - with the Southern side set to play Inter later this evening.
