Rome: Claudio Marchisio scored two late goals to give Juventus a deserved 2-0 win over 10-man AC Milan on Sunday and reclaim the Serie A lead.
Having dominated from the start, Juventus finally broke the deadlock when Marchisio found the target from inside the box in the 87th minute. The Italy midfielder then doubled the lead with a long shot in injury time after Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng was sent off in the 89th.
Juventus are level with Udinese, who beat last-placed Bologna 2-0, but hold the edge on goals scored.
Playing in their new stadium, Juventus kept up a high pace throughout, with Mirko Vucinic hitting the crossbar in the 36th, and injury-depleted Milan struggled to keep up.
"They definitely played a great game, and we weren't up to the task," Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said.
Earlier, Udinese's Morocco defender Mehdi Benatia scored following a corner kick in the 29th and captain Antonio Di Natale - who has led Serie A in goals scored the past two seasons - converted a penalty in the 72nd at the Friuli stadium in Udine.
Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic preserved the north-eastern club's lead by keeping out a dangerous free kick from Alessandro Diamanti in the 60th.
"It's time to enjoy this," said Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin. "The squad is playing well although it's still not fully mature. In Serie A the matches are always on the line and we could have been more decisive."
With 11 points, Juve and Udinese have one more than Napoli, Palermo and Cagliari.
Napoli beat 10-man Inter Milan 3-0 on Saturday, 10-man Palermo defeated Siena 2-0 and Cagliari won 2-0 at Lecce.
Milan - who is missing forwards Alexandre Pato and Robinho, plus midfielders Gennaro Gattuso and Mathieu Flamini - are six points back.
Having won Serie A in their first year under Allegri last season, Milan have only managed one win in their opening five matches this campaign.
Milan beat Czech side Viktoria Plzen 2-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Juventus, who didn't qualify for Europe this season, did not play in mid-week.
With three wins and two draws, Juventus remained unbeaten under new coach Antonio Conte.
Earlier, Thiago Ribeiro and Davide Biondini scored in the first half for Cagliari, while Giulio Migliaccio gave Palermo the lead following a free kick from captain Fabrizio Miccoli.
Palermo defender Federico Balzaretti picked up his second yellow card in the 55th but the Sicilian squad doubled the lead in added time with a penalty from Abel Hernandez after Siena's Luca Rossettini was sent off for protesting.
Elsewhere, Lazio beat Fiorentina 2-1 with a late goal from Miroslav Klose and Parma beat Genoa 3-1 with two goals from 5-foot-5 forward Sebastian Giovinco.
Fiorentina fans still remember Klose scoring a goal while offside in the Champions League when he was with Bayern Munich a couple seasons ago, and this time the Germany forward found the target without the help of the referee, heading in from the center of the area to raise his tally to five goals in seven matches in all competitions in his first season in Italy.
Alessio Cerci had given Fiorentina the lead eight minutes in at their Artemio Franchi stadium and Brazil playmaker Hernanes equalized for Lazio in the 28th.
Giovinco also played a part in Parma's third goal from captain Stefano Morrone, while Rodrigo Palacio pulled one back for Genoa with a penalty in injury time, drawing him even with Giovinco atop the league scoring chart with five goals.
Also, Cesena forward Adrian Mutu had a penalty blocked in a 0-0 draw with Chievo Verona.
In the lunch-time fixture, Argentine midfielder Alejandro Gomez scored an injury-time equalizer as Catania drew 3-3 at newly-promoted Novara.
Brazilian forward Jeda gave Novara the lead for the first time in the 85th by heading in his own rebound but Gomez equalized with an intelligent angled shot to earn Catania a deserved draw.
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