Torino had a disappointing start to the New Year as they failed to find a breakthrough against a resilient Albinoleffe side, and the home side finished the game with just nine men.
Davide Morello was given a start in goal as Ferdinando Coppola was suspended despite it being Kamil Glik who was guilty of the foul in Toro's last match of 2011 against Modena. In a surprising move, Giuseppe Vives was preferred to Migjen Basha in midfield, whilst Mirco Antenucci partnered Rolando Bianchi upfront.
Toro had the first chance of the match, when Manuel Iori's chipped pass found Rolando Bianchi in the area, but the captain's left footed volley went harmlessly wide of the target. The away side nearly took a shock lead after nice interplay between Andrea Cristiano and Andrea Cocco led to the latter being through on goal, but his shot was well saved by the legs of Morello.
That scare seemed to spur Torino into action, and they could of had a penalty when nice play by Antenucci put Simone Verdi through, but he was pulled back on the edge of the area. On first glance it looked as though the foul was inside the area, but on reflection the referee had made the right decision, and unfortunately for Toro, the resulting free kick came to nothing.
Just before half time, Albinoleffe were reduced to ten men when Michael Girasole was sent off after recieving his second yellow card for a foul on Verdi.
Toro started the second half brightly eager to capitalise on their one man advantage, and Antenucci was very unlucky to see his shot from 20 yards hit the post. However just moments, disaster struck for Torino when Albinoleffe countered quickly after a corner kick, and Valerio Foglio ran the length of the pitch before being fouled by Manuel Iori, who had chased him back with that intention.
Iori was unsurprisingly sent off for being the last man, although luckily for Toro, the foul was outside the area so he only conceded a free kick, and it was now 10 v 10. Both Alen Stevanovic, and then Mirco Antenucci had good chances for Toro, but both players saw their shots go wide.
Rolando Bianchi continued his poor form in front of goal, as he failed to make contact with Alessandro Parisi's cross from just three yards out. In the 90th minute, Antenucci had his best chance of the match when he received Giuseppe Vives long pass, but his shot was saved by the legs of the Albinoleffe goalkeeper.
In injury time, Torino had another player dismissed when substitite Giulio Ebagua was given a straight red card for dissent after the striker did not recieve a free kick when he was blatently pulled to the ground by Fabio Lebran on the edge of the area.
This result means that Torino are now only one point clear at the top of the Serie B table, after closest rivals Hellas Verona scored two late goals to beat Modena.
Forza Torino
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