A brace from Alessandro Matri saw Juventus do their hopes of winning the Italian title the power of good last night, seeing off fellow high-riders Udinese 2-1 in Turin.
The win preserved Juve's unbeaten league record and opened up a provisional four-point lead over AC Milan, who host Cagliari today, while Udinese could see Inter Milan draw level with them if the Nerazzurri can win at Lecce.
Juve coach Antonio Conte saluted his side for an important victory.
"This was a real six-pointer," Conte told Sky Sport. "I was wary of Udinese's way of playing - they are very strong on the counter attack. We lost a few balls on occasions that could have cost us but we managed to tough it out. Well done to the players."
Juve moved onto 44 points from 20 games but were eternally grateful to Matri for his predatory instincts after Antonio Floro Flores had threatened to bag a point for the visitors with a fine strike for Udinese to peg things back at 1-1.
Matri's winner just after the hour mark owed much to an inspired substitution by Conte, who sent on Claudio Marchisio for ex-Udinese favourite Fabio Quagliarella.
Marchisio promptly diverted...
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