Gonzalo Higuain scores second-half hat-trick in Juve's seven-goal rout

AS Roma ended a six-match winless run in the league by beating Verona 1-0 with a first-minute goal by Cengiz Under while, in a bizarre game, both Bologna and Fiorentina scored directly from corners in a three-minute spell.

Alex Sandro gave Juventus a ninth-minute lead and then two goals in three minutes from Sami Khedira put the Turin side three goals up. Miralem Pjanic added a fourth before halftime.

Higuain then burst on to the scene with a hat-trick between the 63rd and 83rd minutes.

The Argentine opened his account with a clinical finish, then latched on to Claudio Marchisio's long pass before rounding Andrea Consigli to score.

He completed his hat-trick by playing a one-two with Federico Bernardeschi before dinking the ball over the bemused Sassuolo goalkeeper.

"I'm always trying to improve," Higuain said. "As a player, you need to be humble enough to want to learn and know that you always have to question yourself."

Juve's seventh consecutive league win took them top of Serie A, at least for a few hours, with Napoli away to Benevento in the evening game. Juve have 59 points to Napoli's 57.

Under scored after only 43 seconds for Roma, winning possession and then firing home from outside the area, to give them a 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Verona.

Fifth-placed Roma held out despite having Lorenzo Pellegrini given a straight red card six minutes after halftime for a late, reckless tackle on Ryder Matos.

AC Milan were held 1-1 at Udinese after having a player sent off and then conceding an own goal.

Suso rifled Gennaro Gattuso's team ahead in the ninth minute with a 30-metre shot but the visitors were reduced to 10 men when Davide Calabria was sent off for a second booking in the 68th minute.

Udinese equalised eight minutes later with a Kevin Lasagna shot which deflected off a defender before goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma tipped it into his own goal.

Fiorentina took the lead at Bologna when Jordan Veretout's corner looped over Antonio Mirante, hit the far post and rebounded off the Bologna goalkeeper and into the net.

Mirante's opposite number Marco Sportiello was beaten at his near post as Erick Pulgar levelled from another corner three minutes later.

Federico Chiesa gave Fiorentina a 2-1 win in the 71st minute. (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Toby Davis and Clare Fallon)