Alessandro Matri scored a brace against his former team Saturday to help struggling giants Juventus beat Cagliari 3-1 and close a bad run in the Italian Serie A.
Juve had suffered two straight defeats, with a total of four in the previous six games, and are now 10 points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan.
Matri put Juve ahead on 20 minutes with a firm shot in to the lower right corner after the home defence failed to block a feed from Milos Krasic.
The striker, who joined Juve in late January, missed an earlier chance with a shot onto Michael Agazzi and beat the goalkeeper with a fast volley on 75 minutes.
Robert Acquafresca scored a temporary equalizer after the break as Cagliari had a great start into the second half, but were stunned by Matri's second goal and by a header from substitute Luca Toni, who returned after a long absence.
Earlier Saturday, Antonio Di Natale scored his 100th league goal for Udinese in a 2-0 defeat of visiting Sampdoria that pushed the Udine side into fifth position.
Udinese settled matters in the first half against the Genoa guests, who are going through a dull period after the departure of strikers Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini.
Chilean Alexis Sanchez nodded home despite his small size off a free kick from Di Natale and set up his captain after triggering a fast counter attacks.
Di Natale boasts 16 goals from 24 games this season and a career total of 191.
He trails Uruguayan top scorer Edinson Cavani, who look to improve the 17 goals scored for Napoli against minnows Cesena on Sunday.
Leaders Milan play Sunday away to Genoa, while champions Inter Milan close the weekend late Sunday with a classic tie against Roma.
Inter lag seven points from the top with a game in hand. Roma lie two further points down.
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