Dazzling Juventus hit Pescara for six

ROME: Fabio Quagliarella's hat-trick helped Juventus crush Pescara 6-1 on Saturday to bounce back superbly from losing their unbeaten record to arch-rivals Inter Milan last week.

Goals from Arturo Vidal, Sebastian Giovinco and Kwadwo Asamoah added to the margin of victory for the champions who climbed to 31 points at the top of Serie A, four ahead of Inter who face a tricky match at Atalanta on Sunday (1945 GMT).

Juventus took the lead through Vidal after only nine minutes, the midfielder ending a slick passing move by bursting past his forwards before collecting Sebastian Giovinco's through ball and thumping it across Mattia Perin in the Pescara goal.

The league leaders could have doubled their lead two minutes later when Fabio Quagliarella's quick turn just outside the area was finished with the striker firing a whisker wide of the post.

However, 10 minutes later the striker, starting in place of misfiring Mirko Vucinic, notched his first goal when he took Mauricio Isla's pass on the edge of the area and hit a smart drive in the exact same spot as Vidal.

Pescara did not let their heads drop, though, even after Juan Quintero hit the post with a terrific free kick just a minute after the champions' second, and they pulled a goal back on 25 minutes when Emmanuel Cascione guided a header past Ganluigi Buffon.

Both sides were playing on the front foot and though Pescara were a threat, it was Antonio Conte's side who restored their two-goal lead five minutes later, Kwadwo Asamoah meeting Quagliarella's backheel with a stunning scissor kick.

Any resistance from Pescara was extinquished and Giovinco added to Juve's lead with another beautiful goal, playing a one-two with Quagliarella and hitting his strike partner's pin-point chipped pass hard into Perin's right-hand corner. (Reuters)