ROME -- Juventus maintained their three-point lead over Inter Milan at the top of Serie A on Sunday as a goal by French striker David Trezeguet gave them a 1-0 win over a 10-man Udinese at the Friuli Stadium.

Juve Coach Marcello Lippi left the French striker, who finished last season as Serie A's top scorer but has been struggling for form after returning from a knee injury, on the bench to start with a strike partnership consisting of Marco di Vaio and Marcelo Zalayeta.

Despite early pressure, the reigning Italian champions were unable to break the deadlock in an arid first half, coming closest in the 12th minute when Udinese keeper Morgan de Sanctis blocked a Zalayeta header from close range.

The balance of the match, however, changed in the 61st minute when midfielder Giampiero Pinzi was red-carded for a tackle on Juve's Edgar Davids.

Lippi brought on Trezeguet for Zalayeta and added Chilean striker Marcelo Salas to bolster his attack as Udinese desperately tried to close out the match.

But in the 84th minute, left winger Gianluca Zambrotta stole the ball from Udinese striker Roberto Muzzi and sent in a low cross for Trezeguet to tip, right-footed, past De Sanctis.

The win means Juventus have 54 points with second-placed Inter Milan, who beat Bologna 2-1 on Saturday, on 51, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Juve's city rivals Torino enjoyed only their third win of the season, and their first since October, as a 12th-minute penalty by striker Marco Ferrante gave them an unexpected 1-0 victory over Reggina. Relegation Zone

The result, which failed to drag Torino off the bottom of the table, pushed the southerners back into the relegation zone after a run of good results had hauled them out of trouble.

Fellow strugglers Empoli improved their prospects of avoiding the drop with a 3-1 win over Piacenza, thanks to goals by Australian international defender Vincenzo Grella and strikers Francesco Tavano and Marco Borriello.

They are now two points below 11th-placed Brescia, who extended their unbeaten run in Serie A to 12 games with a 1-1 draw away to Como.

Como had gone ahead in the 54th minute with a goal by midfielder Fabio Pecchia, but Brescia responded a minute later when striker Luca Toni latched onto a cross by Brazilian midfielder Matuzalem to stab the ball into the net.

Sixth-placed Parma's bid to make up ground on Chievo and Lazio -- their rivals for a Champions League berth next season -- stuttered in an untidy scoreless draw with Atalanta.

A 13th-minute goal by Modena midfielder Giuseppe Colucci was canceled out by Perugia striker Zisis Vryzas's 32nd-minute equalizer as the match between the two mid-table sides ended 1-1.