Torino had their hearts broken in the final moments of their Serie A opener at home to Roma with Edin Dzeko landing a crucial blow to take all three points down to the capital after what was a pretty evenly contested game at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma were in charge of the opening 15 minutes but never really managed to break through Toro’s defence. Cengiz Under eventually found some space on the right and cut the ball back for Javier Pastore but his tame effort from the edge of the box was blocked. Edin Dzeko then did well to hold up the ball and find an overlapping run from Aleksandar Kolarov, who smashed a shot off the upright from a narrow angle.
The game then opened up for what was left of the first half and Cengiz remained the Giallorossi’s main threat on the right but the fact remained that Roma struggled to carve out any clear-cut opportunities. Toro meanwhile posed a threat on the break and looked to counterattack on a number of occasions but their final ball and decision let them down. Thomas Rincon did come close as he drove an effort off the top of the crossbar with five minutes to play in the half.
Alessandro Florenzi forced a good save from Salvatore Sirigu right at the end of the first 45 as he caught a volley sweetly from 25-yards, to which Sirigu was equal as he got down low quickly and did well to palm the ball far away from danger.
Toro thought they had gone ahead early in the second through Iago Falque, who was up against his former side. After some excellent build-up play, the Spaniard got on the end of an Ola Aina pass and slotted beyond Robin Olsen and the Olimpico erupted. Unfortunately for the Granata though the goal was ruled out after VAR showed that Aina had been offside in the lead-up.
The game was open for the second half and Torino had a new lease of life for the majority, but Roma were not to be outplayed and still probed their hosts.
Walter Mazzarri was dismissed from the touchline after Iago Falque attempted to get on the end of a parried Andrea Belotti shot and appeared to be pushed, with the tactician then losing his cool and demanding a consultation of VAR.
Edin Dzeko popped up in the final minute of the 90 to seal a hard-fought three points for Eusebio Di Francesco’s side with an extremely well-taken volley from inside the box that he lifted over Sirigu as he fired it back across goal. Justin Kluivert did very well on the right before picking out the No.9, who then showed great technique to dispatch into the net.
Nainggolan is hard to replace
Good as he is and obvious as it sounds, Pastore will bring a completely different skill set to this Roma side and it might take the rest of the team some getting used to.
The Belgian’s presence will be missed, as his driving runs forward cannot be matched by anyone who remains at Roma and patience may be needed before the best of the Argentine is seen.
Bryan Cristante and Justin Kluivert arrived as second-half substitutes and both looked like they needed some more time to settle.
Torino can be fun
Keen to counterattack at speed, this Toro side look capable of causing problems for their opponents this season.
Belotti is an obvious threat, as is Falque and with Simone Zaza and Adem Ljajic in reserve, they have options in attack.
Should they improve on their final ball and decision they could be a surprise package in the top half this term.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com