Juventus have bounced back to beat 10-man Napoli 3-1 Saturday as Mario Mandzukic struck twice off Cristiano Ronaldo to help the champions to a six-point lead atop the Italian Serie A.
Juve have a maximum 21 points from seven games as the second-place Neapolitans stayed on 15 after Saturday's match.
The guests came close when Piotr Zielinski hit the post and were deadly on a stuttering clearance as Dries Mertens flicked off Jose Callejon on 10 minutes.
The inspired Ronaldo fired two harmless shots before providing a clinical cross for Mandzukic on 26 and was crucial also on the second goal of the Croat.
David Ospina only managed to deflect the Portuguese's long shot onto the post and Mandzukic pounced to complete the comeback on 49.
Mario Rui weakened the Napoli's reaction by being dismissed on 58 minutes after a second caution, but Napoli still had a chance when Callejon had a shot saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
Leonardo Bonucci secured victory on 76 with a close-range flick off a Ronaldo header.
"It is an important goal and it was important to win," said defender Bonucci, who rejoined the Bianconeri after a season at AC Milan.
"Sending Napoli six points adrift was a crucial step. These are three crucial points.
"When you are Juve you must play well and we must all be careful when we exit our box. Early in the game we were under pressure and went down on a mistake I made, but then we got back in control."
At Rome's Stadio Olimpico, Roma beat Lazio 3-1 in an intense city derby to move up after a dismal start to the season.
Lazio captain Ciro Immobile missed three attempts before the Giallorossi found the net on 45 minutes from substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini, who flicked in with his heel after Martin Caceres' botched clearance.
Immobile dispossessed a dithering Federico Fazio to level on 67 but Aleksandar Kolarov drilled home a free-kick before Fazio made amends to clinch victory with a header on 86.
Roma are now on 11 points from seven games, sitting one point behind fifth-place Lazio.
Late action saw Inter Milan's new signings Lautaro Martinez and Matteo Politano net their first goals to seal a 2-0 defeat of visiting Cagliari.
Inter moved past Lazio and Roma to go level on 13 points with third-place Sassuolo, who welcome AC Milan late Sunday. Cagliari have six points.
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