Juventus 2-0 Udinese: Paolo Dybala and Weston Mckennie on the scoresheet as Juve close in on top four

Juventus made it six wins in eight Serie A games as the Bianconeri sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory over strugglers Udinese at the Allianz Stadium to close the gap to fourth-placed Atalanta to just two points.

Massimiliano Allegri made eight changes from his side’s last-gasp Supercoppa Italia derby defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday night, and it did not take his players long to get started as Juventus took the lead in the 18th minute.

Some neat one-touch interplay between Arthur and Moise Kean saw the latter feed in Paulo Dybala, who finished excellently with his left foot into the top corner to give his side the advantage.

The hosts let Gabriele Cioffi’s Udinese side back into the game in spells during the second half, but they eventually sealed their winner with just over ten minutes to play, as Mattia De Sciglio’s cross on the half-volley was headed in at the back post by Weston McKennie to give the Bianconeri an important three points.

Udinese will be arguing that they should have had a nailed on penalty shortly before Juventus scored their second goal of the game - a call which could've seen the match unfold very differently had it had been given.

Federico Bernadeschi is very lucky indeed. The half-time substitute grabbed a hold of Brandon Soppy's hair in the area, before pulling the wing-back down.

After a quick check with the video assistant referee in the moments after the incident, match official Antonio Giua ruled the call in Juventus' favour and did not award Udinese the spot-kick, despite the appeals from the Friulani players.

This decision once again highlights referee inconsistency, and Udinese will certainly feel hard done by.

The 28-year-old Argentine once again proved to be the thorn in Udinese's side as he has done many times over the years, netting his 10th goal against the Friulani with a superbly finished left-footed curling effort into the top corner.

Operating in the number 10 role in Max Allegri's 4-2-3-1 formation, the forward consistently got himself in shooting positions - having a total of four shots during the game - as well as carrying the ball well to put his team-mates in. Dybala made a total of three successful dribbles, and had a pass success rate of 94%.

He was also key in the build-up leading to Juventus' second goal, as his cross-field switch pass to Mattia De Sciglio put the full-back in space to get the assist with a superbly hit cross on the half-volley. All in all, a fantastic performance.

Juventus: Szczesny 7, Cuadrado 7, De Ligt 7, Rugani 7, Pellegrini 6, McKennie 8, Bentancur 8, Arthur 6, Kulusevski 6, Dybala 8, Kean 6. Subs: Morata 6, De Sciglio 7, Locatelli, Rabiot 6, Bernadeschi 6.

Udinese: Padelli 5, Perez 6, Nuytinck 6, Zeegelaar 6, Udogie 7, Soppy 6, Arslan 7, Walace 6, Makengo 6, Beto 6, Deulofeu 6. Subs: Samardzic 6, Success 6, Jajalo 6, Pussetto 6.

18’ - GOAL! - Dybala has his tenth goal against Udinese! Juventus have the lead! Some nice one-touch play between Arthur and Kean occurs just outside the box, before the latter feeds in Dybala and the Argentinian sends a finessed left foot curler into the roof of the net.

65’ - CLOSE! Dybala drives forward, before asking McKennie for the give-and-go, which sees the American tee the Argentine up for the shot. He tries to bend it into the bottom corner but it goes narrowly wide.

71’ - NO PENALTY! Bernadeschi pulls Soppy in the box - a really silly challenge - and the Udinese man goes down. The referee consults VAR but does not point to the spot. The visitors will be feeling short-changed after that - it looked like a penalty.

79’ - GOAL! Udinese's resistance is broken! Dybala plays a superb diagonal ball to De Sciglio on the left flank. The full-back does well to put a delightful cross into the box on the half-volley after chesting the ball down, and McKennie heads one into the back of the net at the far post.

- Paulo Dybala has now scored ten goals against Udinese in his career - more than any other Italian side.

- Paulo Dybala is the only Juventus player able to be directly involved in at least 10 goals in the Serie A 2021/22: seven goals and three assists.

- For the first time in his career, Mattia De Sciglio has been directly involved in a goal for 2 Serie A apps in a row (goal vs Roma, assist vs Udinese).

- Massimiliano Allegri tonight reached his 300th game as Juventus manager and he won his 208th match: among the three coaches who have reached this milestone for Juventus (Trapattoni and Lippi the others), he is the one with the highest percentage of wins (69%).