Juventus have taken another step towards the Serie A title with a 2-1 win over Pescara.

Paul Pogba had the first sight of goal, but his effort from outside the box was never likely to go in and sailed harmlessly over the bar.

Then Emanuele Giaccherini met a Stephan Lichtsteiner cross on the bounce, but Ivan Pelizzoli got down well to save.

Fabio Quagliarella came close to opening the scoring just before the break but his shot wasn't powerful enough to beat Pelizzoli.

In the second half Juventus continued to dominate proceedings and were finally awarded a chance when Giuseppe Rizzo was shown a straight red for hauling down Arturo Vidal inside the box when he was clean through.

Mirko Vucinic stepped up to take the spot kick and made no mistake, drilling the penalty into the bottom corner.

Six minutes later the points were wrapped up as Vucinic netted his second with a low shot past the keeper from an angle.

Pescara refused to accept defeat and managed to pull a goal back in the closing minutes with a fine Emmanuel Cascione strike from outside the box.

Despite the late scare, league leaders Juventus held on to keep themselves on top in the hunt for the Serie A title.