Serie A: Juventus Starts The Year With 4-1 Win Over Udinese

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace and assisted another goal as Juventus got back to winning ways in Serie A with a 4-1 victory over Udinese in Turin on Sunday, moving the champions up to fifth in the standings.

AllNews understands that Juventus lost three points after the appeal over the Napoli match and now has a game in hand which could be rather tricky as the title race eludes them.

Ronaldo opened the scoring with a trademark drive, after latching on to Aaron Ramsey's pass in the 31st minute.

He created a goal with a perfect through ball into the path of Federico Chiesa to score Juve's second goal four minutes into the second half.

The VAR was busy throughout the evening in Turin. First, the referee was asked to consult the pitch-side monitor before ruling out what Udinese thought was the opener for a handball early on, before Aaron Ramsey suffered the same fate when he was penalised for handball, after a second look.

READ ALSO: Serie A: Fiorentina Stun Juventus 3-0 In Turin, Worst Defeat In 9 Years

Ronaldo's second goal put the result beyond any doubt as he took his goal tally to 14 league goals for the season -- two more than anyone else in Serie A -- in the 70th minute, with Marvin Zeegelaar scoring an injury-time consolation goal for Udinese.

There was still time for Paulo Dybala to score another goal for Juventus as Andrea Pirlo's side moved 10 points behind leaders AC Milan, with a game in hand, while Udinese drop to 13th and are without a win in their last four games.

Looking to forget their surprise 3-0 home defeat to Fiorentina in their last game before the winter break, Juventus thought they had again fallen behind when Rodrigo de Paul fired home from close range.

Udinese celebrated, but the referee was asked to look again at whether De Paul had handled earlier in the move, before the goal was ruled out.

Ronaldo then took centre stage with his emphatic first-half finish and even better pass for Juve’s second and a fine third.

Welshman Ramsey thought he had scored his first goal of the season in the second half, but again it was ruled out for handball.

Dybala’s injury-time strike completed a flattering scoreline for Juventus, given Udinese had hit the woodwork twice in the match and missed numerous other chances.