Cristiano Ronaldo rescued Juventus at the death as his penalty delivered a barely-deserved 2-1 win over Genoa at Allianz Stadium.
The Bianconeri needed to respond to Inter Milan's victory at Brescia 24 hours earlier to return to top spot, and Leonardo Bonucci's 36th-minute header sent them down the right path.
Christian Kouame's miskick fooled Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon as Genoa levelled four minutes later, yet the dismissal of Francesco Cassata after half-time gave the hosts the upper hand once more.
They could not make their personnel advantage count and lost it when substitute Adrien Rabiot saw red in the 86th minute.
Ronaldo was offside when he put the ball in the net deep into stoppage time – yet he was subsequently caught by Antonio Sanabria in the box and made no mistake with his penalty, sparing Juve blushes.
"It was a difficult game against a well organised team but Juve must keep going until the end," Ronaldo said. "We suffered a lot tonight but we created a lot and deserved this win."
