Wednesday 13 December 2017

Lazio 1-3 Torino

Torino won their first away game since September as they benefited from former striker Ciro Immobile's first half red card on Monday evening.

Cristian Molinaro and Mirko Valdifiori came into the starting eleven, whilst Adem Ljajic was dropped from the squad for a breach of discipline and replaced by Alex Berenguer.

Toro started brightly, and were unlucky not to take the lead when Andrea Belotti's powerful effort hit the inside of the post following Iago Falque's clever assist. At the other end, Ciro Immobile should have done better when through on goal, but his delayed shot was finally blocked by Nicolas N'Koulou.

Iago Falque was once again the provider as he played an excellent pass to find Cristian Molinaro in space, but the full back dragged his shot wide of the far post.

One the stroke of half time the turning point occurred when Ciro Immobile clashed with Nicolas Burdisso in an off-the-ball incident. Immobile, who was already aggrieved by the referee's denial of a possible penalty for handball moments earlier, appeared to headbutt the Argentine after he had approached him.

After the referee consulted VAR, Immobile was given a straight red card and Lazio would have to play the whole second half with only ten men.

It took the Granata less than ten minutes to take advantage of their numerical superiority thanks to Alex Berenguer's solo effort, which was a mixture of skill and luck to earn the Spaniard his first Serie A goal.

There was nothing lucky about Toro's second goal, as Venezuelan midfielder Tomas Rincon picked the ball up from outside the area before curling a left footed into the top corner - an incredible way to score his first Torino goal.

Despite being down to ten men, the home side game themselves a lifeline when Andrea Belotti lost possession and Luis Alberto waltzed through the Toro defence to score. However, Torino re-established their two goal lead just four minutes later when substitute Simone Edera fired home an excellent left footed strike from just outside the area to clinch all three points.

Forza Toro!

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