Juventus go six points clear at top of Serie A

Paulo Dybala scored the only goal of the match as Juventus opened up a six-point lead at the top of Serie A courtesy of a 1-0 win over Sassuolo on Friday night.

Juve, who have incredibly now not conceded a single goal in their last 10 league matches, almost had the lead inside two minutes when Mario Mandzukic set up Dybala with a flick, but the youngster's volley from all of 25 yards was tipped over the crossbar by Andrea Consigli.

The home side continued to threaten in the early moments and again came close in the 17th minute through Alex Sandro, but the Brazilian could not beat the busy Consigli with a close-range header.

Sassuolo came close through Alfred Duncan two minutes later, but the Ghanaian fired wide of the post after smart work from Matteo Politano in a wide position.

The home side had the lead in the 36th minute, however, when Dybala found the top corner after excellent work from Juan Cuadrado.

Sassuolo's best chance of the second period fell to Nicola Sansone 15 minutes from time, but the attacker could not find a route past the diving Gianluigi Buffon.

Juve should have scored a second in the latest stages following chances for Paul Pogba and Alvaro Morata, but one goal was ultimately all that separated the two teams in Turin.

The defeat is Sassuolo's first in six Serie A matches and they remain in seventh position in the table.