Torino were denied a second away victory of the season, as an inspired performance from Mattia Perin gave the home side a point.
Giampiero Ventura reverted to a 3-5-2 formation with captain Kamil Glik returning to the side, whilst Giovanni Pasquale was given a rare start at left wing back in place of the suspended Danilo D'Ambrosio.
The Granata should have taken the lead inside a minute, but Omar El Kaddouri, who scored twice against Catania last week, could only hit the post when through on goal. However moments later Toro did take the lead in extremely fortuitous circumstances when Alexander Farnerud's long range strike deflected off the heels of El Kaddouri before creeping into the corner of the net.
The away side were taking the game to the opponents, and Mattia Perin the home goalkeeper had to make good saves to first deny Alessio Cerci and then Cesare Bovo who tried his luck with an ambitious long range effort.
Croatian defender Sime Vrsaljko came closest to equalising for Genoa when his shot from distance rebounded off the post. This incident led to Toro keeper Daniele Padelli being substituted, and it was rumoured that the former Udinese stopper had been suffering from illness in the first half as well. Padelli was replaced by Primavera product Lys Gomis, one of three goalkeeping brothers Torino have on their books, who came on to make his Serie A debut.
At the other end, Ciro Immobile was giving centre back Daniele Portanova a torrid time, but the former Genoa striker was unable to find a way past his former team mate Perrin. Il Grifone got their equaliser with twenty minutes remaining from an unlikely source when Davide Biondini scored after Matteo Darmian was caught out of position.
Torino had an excellent chance to regain the lead immediately, but once again Mattia Perin stood in the way as he made saves from Alessio Cerci, and then spectacularly, Ciro Immobile on the rebound.
Whilst a point away from home against an in form Genoa side looks like a decent result on paper, in reality Toro will be disappointed not to get the victory that they deserved. However, their performance was certainly an encouraging one, and with winnable games against Lazio, Udinese and Chievo before Christmas, Torino will be hoping for a couple of similar performances before the winter break.
Forza Toro!
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