Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo shines again as Serie A top scorer - in pictures

Two more goals for Portuguese star as Juve stay in touch with leaders with victory over Udinese

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo, left, celebrates scoring with teammate Paulo Dybala after scoring against Udinese. AP

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates. EPA

Ronaldo scores Juve's third goal. Getty

Federico Chiesa celebrates scoring his team's second goal. EPA

Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his second. AFP

It was another great night for Cristiano Ronaldo. AP

Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring Juve's fourth goal. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring their third goal. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates. EPA

Paulo Dybala after scoring Juve's fourth goal. Getty

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

Ronaldo opened the scoring with a trademark drive, after latching on to Aaron Ramsey's pass in the 31st minute, before threading a perfect through ball into the path of Federico Chiesa to score Juve's second goal four minutes into the second half.

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 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.

Pirlo admitted his team had initially struggled to make an impact as the players were still haunted by memories of their shock 3-0 defeat by Fiorentina in their final game before the winter break.

"We started frightened after the match against Fiorentina, we were afraid of the depth of the opponents," Pirlo said.

"Little by little we grew up and in the second half we did better. It wasn't the best Juventus."

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, an even better pass for Juve’s second and a fine third.

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.

"Dybala was explosive," added Pirlo. "He played one of the best games this year, he was more alive and eager and slowly he will find the best form. We need him and he needs us."