Torino 1-2 Roma

Torino fell to a second successive home defeat as they were beaten 2-1 by Roma on Sunday afternoon, despite dominating for much of the game.

Rolando Bianchi was rewarded for his last gasp goal at Bologna as the captain returned to the starting eleven, but somewhat surprisingly, he partnered Riccardo Meggiorini and not Paulo Barreto upfront.

Argentine winger Erik Lamela had Roma's first opportunity, but despite getting in front of Salvatore Masiello, the former River Plate player blazed his effort over the crossbar. However mid-way through the first half the away side did take the lead, as Toro failed to defend a short corner properly, and that allowed full back Federico Balzaretti the space to provide an inch-perfect cross for Pablo Osvaldo whose looping header beat Gillet.

Toro almost responded immediately, as former Roma player Alessio Cerci suddenly discovered that he possessed Beckham-like ability from free kicks, but was incredibly unlucky to see his effort bounce back off the post. 

But on the half hour make the Granata did score a deserved equaliser, when the ball fell kindly for Rolando Bianchi in the area, and the captain struck a fierce volley past Maarten Stekelenburg from six yards out. Former Toro defender Balzaretti was receiving a far amount of abuse from the fans he once called his own (before he betrayed them and signed for Juve) and just before half time he was lucky to stay on the pitch after an elbow on Giuseppe Vives, but he was only given a yellow card.

In the second half, Alessio Cerci once again came agonisingly close with a free kick, however this time he was denied by a fine Stekelenburg save as the Dutch international tipped the ball on to the crossbar. 

Roma brought on Francesco Totti in an attempt to regain the lead, and within five minutes he provided the assist for Erik Lamela to put Roma ahead. However, whilst on paper the assist will go down to Totti, in reality it was an outstanding solo effort from the talented Argentine, as he dribbled to the edge of the area before curling an exquisite left footed shot past a helpless Gillet.

Despite only having a brief cameo in this match, Totti was still able to show that even at 36 years of age he is still one of the best players in Serie A, as he twice forced Gillet into making good saves. With ten minutes remaining Toro's hopes of an equaliser were increased when Balzaretti was finally dismissed after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Cerci.

Toro gave everything in search of an equaliser, but it was nearly an own goal that drew the home side level when substitute Alessandro Florenzi almost sliced Danilo D'Ambrosio's cross into his own net. With the final kick of the match, Angelo Ogbonna let fly from 30 yards, but the ball deflected off Paulo Barreto and went harmlessly wide. 

Despite still being eight points clear of the drop zone, Toro are continuing to give their fans a fright by not finding the victory that should guarantee their place in Serie A for another season. The Granata have only picked up 5 points from a possible 21 since beating Atalanta in February, and a similar run of form in the final six fixtures could see Toro dragged into the mire once more.

Forza Torino

Roma 2-0 Torino

Torino's unbeaten away record ended last night as they fell to a controversial 2-0 defeat against AS Roma after goals from Pablo Osvaldo and Miralem Pjanić.

Giampiero Ventura made three changes from the team that beat Bologna last week, as Angelo Ogbonna, Mario Santana and Alessandro Sgrigna came into the starting eleven.

Zdeněk Zeman set his team out in his typical ultra attacking style (as illustrated by this photo) and striker Pablo Osvaldo had two early chances to give his side the lead, but on both occasions the Argentine-born Italy international missed the target.

Roma were continuing to create chances, but they were failing to test Torino keeper Jean-Francois Gillet, and captain Francesco Totti was also guilty of shooting wide when well placed. As expected Torino were playing on the counter attack, and had an opportunity when former Roma player Alessio Cerci outpaced Michael Bradley and provided a cut-back for Rolando Bianchi, but his shot was saved by Mauro Goicoechea.

The home side struggled to create chances in the second half as the Torino defence held firm, with Polish international Kamil Glik particularly impressive in denying the Giallorossi. However, after seventy minutes the turning point arose when the home side were awarded a penalty in controversial circumstances.

Initially referee Marco Guida turned down Roma's appeals for a penalty after substitute Marquinho went down after a challenge by Danilo D'Ambrosio. That seemed to be the right decision as there was minimal if any contact at all - but incredibly, after Roma appealed to the official behind the goal, the referee changed his mind and awarded the home side a penalty. Pablo Osvaldo stepped up to take the spot-kick, and he calmly waited for Gillet to dive before side footing the ball in the opposite corner.

Simone Verdi and Abou Diop came on to make rare appearances as Torino searched for an equaliser, but with five minutes remaining Roma put the result beyond any doubt as Miralem Pjanić's low shot deflected off Alessandro Gazzi and into the net.

This defeat ended Torino's run of impressive results away from home, and although they were a little wasteful in the final third - until the controversial award of a penalty, the Granata looked to be on track for a point at the very least. With difficult games against Fiorentina and Juventus in the next fortnight, Toro will have to put in impressive performances in order to gain any points.

Forza Torino