Higuain keeps Juventus top as Inter maintain chase

Gonzalo Higuain grabbed a second-half brace to fire Juventus to a 3-1 win at Atalanta that kept the champions top of Serie A, despite Inter Milan's comfortable 3-0 win at Torino that kept them in touch with the leaders.

Maurizio Sarri's Juve left it late to seal victory in Bergamo on Saturday after Robin Gosens had nodded Atalanta ahead after 56 minutes.

But Higuain hit back with two goals in eight minutes before Paulo Dybala marked his 200th Serie A appearance with the third goal one minute into injury time.

Juve stay one point ahead of second-placed Inter Milan, who outplayed Torino in torrential rain in Turin, as Atalanta drop to sixth place after their fourth league game without a win.

"We suffered, but in the final 20 minutes we gave everything we had to bring the win home," said Sarri.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed the trip despite his four-goal spree for Portugal as he recovers from a knee problem ahead of Juve's Champions League game against Atletico Madrid.

"I hope Cristiano will be back for the Champions League on Tuesday," said Sarri. "We're solving this knee problem that has been bothering him for a while. Playing with a hint of pain will tire you out psychologically.

"So far he has trained in the right way, so as not to overload his knee." Higuain pulled Juventus level after 74 minutes with a ball that took a deflection off Rafael Toloi to beat Pierluigi Gollini in the Atalanta goal.

The Argentine completed his double when he picked up a cross from Juan Cuadrado, who had put his hand on the ball during a sliding tackle at the start of the move.

Then Dybala broke through the Atalanta defence to score his fourth Serie A goal this season.

"It was a great test of maturity in a difficult field, three fundamental points for the championship," said Higuain.

- Inter keep pace -
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"I'm happy above all for the lads who are getting big results," said Conte, "but the thing that makes me happiest is that we didn't concede today."