Napoli 0-1 Juventus

Gonzalo Higuain has scored five goals in five games against his old club Napoli

Gonzalo Higuain scored against his former club as champions Juventus ended Napoli's unbeaten start in Serie A to close the gap to one point at the top.

The Argentina striker, 29, who was a doubt after hand surgery during the week, scored the only goal when he slammed home a pass from Paulo Dybala.

Pepe Reina made a great reflex save to deny Blaise Matuidi a second.

Napoli were disappointing and Lorenzo Insigne wasted several chances before coming off injured late on.

The hosts, who have not won the league since 1990, have been excellent all season and picked a bad night to have such a poor performance, with too many misplaced passes and weak shots.

Insigne, who was injured in a collision with veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon, had several half-chances saved by his former Italy team-mate - and went closest when he fired just wide from an angle.

Inter Milan, the only team to remain unbeaten in Serie A, can go top if they beat Chievo on Sunday

Earlier on Friday, Roma beat struggling SPAL 3-1 thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko, Kevin Strootman and Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Federico Viviani scored a consolation for SPAL, who played 81 minutes with 10 men after Felipe's red card - his 11th in Serie A since 2006-07.