Torino continue charge for European football with victory over AC Milan
The last week has been surprisingly tumultuous for Torino. They remain in the hunt for European qualification and are well on course to register their highest Serie A position in five years, yet manager Ivan Jurić will depart the club at the end of campaign, citing “splits and division” within the club.
Considering Milan were already guaranteed second place prior to kick-off and Il Toro picked up points against both Juventus and Bologna in recent weeks, there was every reason for them to believe they could get something against the Rossoneri, even against the background of Jurić’s announcement.
In front of their own supporters, the hosts took the game to their opponents and were by far the better team before the break. They would have been in front inside 20 minutes had Adrien Tameze kept his cool when found by Pietro Pellegri unmarked 10 yards from goal instead of skying over the crossbar, but Torino still had the lead by the half-hour mark.
A pinpoint Ricardo Rodríguez cross found the head of Duván Zapata, who buried into the bottom corner.
After Christian Pulisic nodded over the crossbar at the other, Torino doubled their advantage in similar fashion to their opener, just from the opposite flank.
On this occasion, Raoul Bellanova curled a ball into Ivan Ilić, and the Serbia international powered a header beyond Marco Sportiello - questions must be asked of Fikayo Tomori, who decided to close down the already-marked Pelligri instead of the eventual goalscorer enjoying the freedom of the Milan penalty area.
While Stefano Pioli has fielded rotated XIs since city rivals Inter Milan’s status as champions was confirmed, there was still little explanation for their passive first-half performance. And it took fewer than 20 seconds for them to be even further adrift after the interval.
On this occasion, there was little anyone could do to stop Rodríguez’s piledriver from rippling the back of the net via the post.
That strike, though, appeared to breathe life into the away team, and they had soon reduced the arrears from the penalty spot. Pulisic was wrestled to the floor by Adam Masina, and Ismaël Bennacer made no mistake from 12 yards.
Surprisingly, however, Milan failed to really build on that goal and subsequently struggled to exert any sustained pressure. In the end, Vanja Milinković-Savić barely had to make a save besides a stop from Rafael Leão as Torino made it back-to-back victories.
They remain ninth, but are just one point behind Fiorentina, the team they are looking to catch, having played a game more. Milan, meanwhile, have been able to relax for a few weeks and will end their season against rock-bottom Salernitana next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ricardo Rodríguez (Torino)