Juventus kept up their charge for a seventh straight Serie A title with a 2-0 win over Udinese that at least briefly puts them atop the league table.

Paulo Dybala scored two goals, including a sensational free-kick, as the Turin side built on their thrilling comeback in the Champions League in midweek to keep the pressure on Napoli in this intense title race.

Here are three talking points from Sunday’s win.

DYBALA IS BACK

Four goals in three games, all of them crucial – without that contribution, Juventus would be out of the Champions League and would have drawn both of their last two Serie A fixtures. Instead it’s produced an injury-time winner against Lazio, the goal that proved to be the winner against Spurs, and now the only goals in a 2-0 win to give Juventus a crucial result in the title race.

He had a dip in form earlier this season and was dropped from the starting XI on occasion, but at the moment, there’s just no stopping the Argentine.

Dybala is back to his best after a dip in form earlier this season.

JUVENTUS SHOWING RAZOR-SHARP FOCUS

At times this season Juventus’ desire seemed to have dipped compared to previous years – understandable given their run of six straight Serie A titles. Until last week, Napoli were looking like the favourites for this year’s championship, while disappointing results in Europe indicated that this season’s team wasn’t on par with last year’s juggernaut.

But they haven’t lost a game since November, and in recent weeks there has been a renewed steeliness to Massimiliano Allegri’s squad, with the last-gasp win over Lazio and the comeback against Tottenham the obvious examples. The title race is far from over, but Juventus are looking ominously good now.

Much like Dybala, Juventus have gotten over a dip in form to look back to their best.

HIGUAIN CONTINUES TO CONFOUND

There are days when Gonzalo Higuain looks like one of the best strikers in Europe, and others where it’s obvious why he gets criticism. Sometimes, he switches between the two within the same game, such as Juventus’ home game against Tottenham where he got a quick-fire brace but then missed a penalty and was anonymous in the second half.

Sunday’s performance was in a similar vein. He again missed a penalty, but his play to set up Dybala’s second goal was superb. It’s confounding how a player with his record and talent still hasn’t done enough to earn a more fearsome reputation that would be befitting of an elite player.

Higuain had a mixed day for Juventus, missing a penalty but getting an assist.