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Juventus stormed back into the title race by beating hapless Hellas Verona 3-0 to register an eighth straight Serie A win. Massimiliano Allegri's men - the reigning champions - made a poor start to the season, spending most of the autumn in mid-table after kicking off their latest title defence with back-to-back defeats. But they are now well and truly in the fight for the Scudetto with the likes of Inter Milan and Napoli, thanks to goals from Paulo Dybala, Leonardo Bonucci and substitute Simone Zaza at the Juventus Stadium. Winless Hellas, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom of the table after losing for the 10th time. Juve wasted no time setting about lowly Verona, and Dybala opened the scoring with a perfectly-aimed free-kick after just eight minutes. The Bianconeri could have scored a lot more in the first half but Pierluigi Gollini denied both Alvaro Morata and Claudio Marchisio with smart stops. He could not deny Juve's centre-back on the stroke of half-time, though. Dybala's free-kick was accurate once again and it was Bonucci who rose highest to glance the ball home. Juve clearly wanted more goals after the break but took a while to get going, with Alex Sandro and Paul Pogba coming up short with their ambitious attempts. Eight minutes from time substitute Zaza provided the buffer. Pogba's through-ball put the former Sassuolo striker in a fine position and he could do nothing other than beat Gollini for Juve's third. ends
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