Monday 12 May 2014

Torino 1-1 Parma

Torino had the opportunity to secure sixth place and European football with a victory against Parma on Sunday afternoon, but could only take a point despite taking the lead.

Franco Brienza's sensational late strike for Atalanta to give them a victory against AC Milan meant this game was effectively a Europa League playoff, and once again Torino named an unchanged line up.

Ciro Immobile started the game nervously, but almost gave Toro the lead with an ambitious overhead kick from Alessio Cerci's cross, but it went over the bar. At the other end, Daniele Padelli had to be at his best to deny Marco Parolo from distance.

Three minutes before half time, Immobile forced Parma defender Gabriel Paletta into a mistake, as his poor back pass was collected by the former Genoa striker, and at the second attempt Torino's top scorer rolled the ball into the empty net.

Just after the hour mark, Parma captain Alessandro Lucarelli was caught out by Immobile's pace and hauled the Italy international to the ground - and as he was the last man, he received a red card.

However, ten minutes later the away side had an excellent chance to equalise after midfielder Afriyie Acquah was brought down by Kamil Glik after an inspired run into the penalty area. Antonio Cassano's initial penalty was saved by Padelli, but winger Jonathan Biabiany was quickest to react to pull the gialloblu level.

Things got even worse for Torino two minutes later when top scorer Ciro Immobile received a second yellow card for an alleged dive in the Parma area. Biabiany then had a great chance to win it for the away side, but in all honesty, both sides seemed happy with the draw.

That result means that Europa League qualification is still in Torino's own hands, but they must beat Fiorentina on the final day in order to guarantee a sixth place finish.

Forza Toro!

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