ROME, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- French midfielder Paul Pogba scored a brace to help Juventus extend their lead at the top of Serie A to five points with a 4-0 win over Udinese on Saturday.
He broke the deadlock with a stunning 35-yard effort in the 41st minute, then topped that with another goal from long range to make it two at the 66th minute.
Mirko Vucinic and Alessandro Matri also got in on the act, finding the net respectively at the 72nd and the 80th minute, as Antonio Conte's men took full advantage of Lazio's draw at Palermo by returning to form in style at the Juventus Stadium.
Udinese head coach Francesco Guidolin conceded his side "had a bad night" at the Juventus Stadium, and he singled out Pogba for praise.
"Pogba is a great player and not just for his goals. I have to say we' re dealing with a real prospect for the future," he said.
"We had a bad night. I was convinced my team would be able to play the game, but we did practically nothing tonight," he added.
Lazio were unable to apply further pressure on Juventus as they had to rely on a late Hernanes penalty to take a point at lowly Palermo.
The Biancocelesti could have drawn level at the top, ahead of Juve's late kick-off against Udinese, but were undone by two second-half goals in as many minutes.
Arevalo Rios canceled out Sergio Floccari's early opener with 20 minutes to go and Palermo took a shock lead moments later through Paulo Dybala.