Miralem Pjanic winner keeps leaders Juventus on track

Miralem Pjanic's free-kick winner was his third Serie A goal of the season

Miralem Pjanic's superb free-kick with 15 minutes left cemented Juventus' Serie A lead as they won at Chievo.

The champions suffered an early setback when defender Andrea Barzagli was carried off on a stretcher.

Mario Mandzukic, who missed two good first-half chances, put Juve in front with a cool finish from Juan Cuadrado's through pass.

Sergio Pellissier equalised with a penalty after Stephan Lichtsteiner fouled him, but then Pjanic struck.

It meant that Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was able to celebrate as he became only the fourth player to make 600 Serie A appearances, while defeat leaves Chievo without a victory in five league matches.

AC Milan, who started the day in third, remain five points behind Juve after a late 2-1 victory at struggling Palermo, with Gianluca Lapadula scoring the 82nd-minute winner.

Milan climbed to second for a few hours, before Roma moved back above them by beating Bologna 3-0 in the 19:45 GMT kick-off. Palermo, in the relegation zone, have yet to collect a point at home this season.

Elsewhere, former Middlesbrough striker Massimo Maccarone, now 37, scored twice as Empoli - with only two goals in their previous 11 league games - moved clear of the relegation zone with a 4-0 victory at troubled Pescara, while Atalanta earned a 3-0 victory at Sassuolo and Genoa drew 1-1 with Udinese.

In the two 17:00 GMT matches, Inter Milan - managerless following the dismissal of Frank De Boer on Tuesday - beat Crotone 3-0, and Fiorentina drew 1-1 with Sampdoria.