Argentinian Paulo Dybala staked his claim for a regular starting spot at Juventus after a superb individual display as the stuttering champions beat 10-man Atalanta to claim just their third win of the season.

Dybala, signed in a 32 million-euro ($35.2m) deal in the summer, had recently been advised by the president of his former club Palermo, Maurizio Zamparini, to move on after failing to nail down a regular starting place in Turin.

But on this performance Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri will be keen to convince the 21-year-old striker he has a bright future at the club.

Dybala had started only four times for Juventus this season but, as the defending champions stumbled from one disaster to the next, was one of the team's few bright lights.

He scored in three of his four previous starts but, following the return from injury of Alvaro Morata and Mario Mandzukic, had recently fallen out of favour.

On what was his first start since he struck a penalty in a 3-1 win over Bologna at the start of October, Dybala proved the inspiration as Juventus overwhelmed Atalanta to begin what fans will hope is their definitive climb back up the table.

Atalanta 'keeper Marco Sportiello was tested twice early on by headers from Mandzukic and Leonardo Bonucci, both coming from Dybala deliveries.

Dybala broke the deadlock on 28 minutes when he collected Paul Pogba's short delivery outside the area to wrong-foot Sportiello with a fine curling drive.

Notably, it was the first time the Bianconeri have scored inside the opening half-hour of a league game this season.

Juve could have doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time but Dybala just failed to make contact after sliding in at the back post to meet Pogba's looping cross.

Moments later, Dybala spurned a better chance when he met Patrice Evra's cutback from the left byline with a smart first-timer that Sportiello blocked with his legs.

Dybala was back in the thick of the action four minutes after the restart when he beat his marker deep on the left to deliver a low ball in for Mandzukic to tap home from close range.

Another Evra cutback found Dybala in space just after the hour but, under pressure, the Argentinian fired into the side-netting.

Atalanta were reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining after Rafael Toloi saw red for a second bookable offence.

Dybala won a penalty for the hosts on 80 minutes after he was up-ended by Gabriel Paletta on the edge of the area. Pogba stepped up with a chance to put the game beyond all reach, only to see his tame effort blocked by Sportiello before being cleared.

Juventus moved up to 12th place to sit six points behind leaders Fiorentina, who will lose top spot to Roma in the event of defeat to the Giallorossi later on Sunday.

There was joy, too, at the San Siro as AC Milan ended a three-game winless streak with a 2-1 win over Sassuolo thanks to Luiz Adriano's header four minutes from time.

Carlos Bacca broke the deadlock on the half-hour from the penalty spot after he had been upended by goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, who saw red and was replaced by Gianluca Pegolo after Sassuolo coach Eusebio Di Francesco sacrificed Antonio Floro Flores.

Sassuolo were back on level terms eight minutes after the restart when Domenico Berardi curled a free-kick over the defensive wall to wrong-foot goalkeeper Gianluca Donnarumma, who was making his Serie A debut at 16 years and 242 days old.

Milan looked to be heading for a share of the spoils only for Adriano, who replaced Andrea Poli on the hour mark, to find himself in the right place at the right time at a corner on 86 minutes to head past Pegolo.

Earlier on Sunday, Italy striker Eder scored his seventh goal of the season as Sampdoria beat Verona 4-1, while Udinese beat Frosinone 1-0.