Pirlo scored with aplomb deep into injury time to give pacesetters Juve a 2-1 win over an unfortunate Torino in an intense Turin derby.
Juve were down to 10 men when the ageless, classy midfielder found the corner of the net with a booming, low shot from outside the area to send the Juventus Stadium into raptures.
Turin's lesser lights had not scored a goal for 12 years in the city derby but it was worth the wait as Bruno Peres ran almost the length of the field to net a goal-of-the-season contender after 23 minutes, equalising Arturo Vidal's penalty.
Brazilian Bruno Peres, who dribbled past a host of Juve players and finished off in style, typified Torino's all-action approach with his defensive pressing also limiting the hosts.
Juve's Stephan Lichtsteiner was dismissed for a second booking after 77 minutes but 15th-placed Torino ran out of steam and it was the relentless champions who notched an 11th win from 13 games.
Bosnia midfielder Pjanic scored twice in the late game at the Stadio Olimpico where Roma beat a determined Inter Milan 4-2.
Despite the defeat, 11th-placed Inter put on one of their best performances of the season and showed a clear improvement in Roberto Mancini's second match in charge since his return.
Mancini's passion was there for all to see when he was sent off for complaining after Pjanic's first goal, which came minutes after former Roma forward Pablo Osvaldo had brought Inter level.
Pjanic has not been at his best of late but showed against Inter what he can do, first netting a great offload by captain Francesco Totti to make it 3-2 on the hour and then converting a free kick in stoppage time.
Elsewhere, injury-prone Fiorentina striker Mario Gomez scored his first goal for eight months in a 4-0 win at Cagliari, whose maverick coach Zdenek Zeman got more than he bargained for.
Bottom side Parma lost 2-1 in Palermo with coach Roberto Donadoni under serious pressure with media reports suggesting he could soon be sacked.
Napoli travel to high-flying Sampdoria on Monday.
(Editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters Messaging:; mark.meadows.reuters.com@reuters.net)
