Torino 1-0 Lazio

Torino overcame some dreadful weather conditions to finally record a victory against a top ten side, as they beat Lazio 1-0 on Sunday evening.

Alessio Cerci came back into side following his suspension, whilst Riccardo Meggiorini was surprisingly preferred to Rolando Bianchi upfront.

Despite a large downfall of snow before kick off, that made the stadium look more like a scene from Game of Thrones rather than a football pitch, the game went ahead as normal, although these conditions meant that it was not the most entertaining match for the neutral.

Lazio had a great chance to take the lead when Alvaro Gonzalez's cross found Lorik Cana, but the Albanian's header rebounded off the post and was cleared away. However, the turning point of this match occurred after only sixteen minutes, when Lazio defender Michael Ciani was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in 43 seconds - both for fouls on Paulo Barreto.

That incident gave Torino an obvious advantage, but they were struggling to adapt to the conditions, and that meant clear cut chances were rare. In the second half, Lazio almost took the lead against the run of play after Senad Lulic's lung-bursting run found Libor Kozak, but the giant striker's poor touch meant he could only lay the ball off to Ogenyi Onazi's, whose shot was easily saved by Gillet.

Torino brought on strikers Rolando Bianchi and Jonathas in order to find a breakthrough, and it was the Brazilian striker who scored the crucial goal with his first touch. Alessio Cerci's corner was skillfully volleyed past Federico Marchetti by the former Brescia striker, although he did seem a little surprised himself that he scored - his first goal for the club.

Given the conditions and the one man disadvantage, Lazio were unable to find an answer to Torino's late goal, and this victory moved the Granata up to 12th place. The Torino players celebrated after the final whistle as if they knew that this was an important victory, and one that should secure their Serie A status for another season.

Forza Torino