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!
Showing posts with label Omar El Kaddouri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Omar El Kaddouri. Show all posts
Monday, 2 December 2013
Monday, 25 November 2013
Torino 4-1 Catania
Torino secured their first victory since the end of September after a convincing 4-1 victory over Catania at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.
Giampiero Ventura decided to keep faith with goalkeeper Danielle Padelli, whilst captain Kamil Glik was again left on the bench with Cesare Bovo being preferred. In midfield, Alexander Farnerud and Migjen Basha were surprise selections, whilst Omar El Kaddouri, Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci formed an exciting trio in attack.
An excellent turn and shot from Ciro Immobile almost gave Toro a lead within the opening couple of minutes, but he was denied by Mariano Andujar. From the resulting corner, Immobile hit the bar with a header, and then Emiliano Moretti somehow volleyed over from close range.
However, Torino deservedly went ahead in the tenth minute after former Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie somehow lost his footing, and that allowed Immobile to go through on goal before calmly finishing past Andujar.
The former Genoa striker was having an enjoyable afternoon, and he should have doubled Toro's lead when he received an excellent through ball from Omar El Kaddouri, and then rounded the goalkeeper - but he was unable to finish from a difficult angle.
But Toro were able to double their advantage sixty seconds later, when a mistimed interception by Tiberio Guarente set the ball up perfectly for El Kaddouri, and the Moroccan international scored his first goal for the club with ease.
The away side got a goal back five minutes after the break when substitute Sebastian Leto's left footed shot looped over Padelli and into the net. The Granata were particularly upset at this goal, as they felt they should have been awarded a penalty moments earlier when Jaroslav PlaĊĦil fouled El Kaddouri in the area.
However, Torino re-established their two goal advantage ten minutes later when Alessio Cerci's corner was glanced home by the veteran defender Emiliano Moretti. And two minutes later the result was put beyond any doubt when El Kaddouri scored his second goal of the game after Immobile's initial shot was saved.
Toro had opportunities to make the scoreline more impressive, but top scorer Alessio Cerci twice decided to go for goal himself despite the fact a simple pass would have given a team mate a simple tap in.
This was a much needed result for Torino, and will hopefully kick start a season that had began in impressive fashion. Toro's next two fixtures against Genoa and Lazio are both winnable games, and positive results in those fixtures could alter the narrative of Toro's campaign dramatically.
Forza Toro!
Giampiero Ventura decided to keep faith with goalkeeper Danielle Padelli, whilst captain Kamil Glik was again left on the bench with Cesare Bovo being preferred. In midfield, Alexander Farnerud and Migjen Basha were surprise selections, whilst Omar El Kaddouri, Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci formed an exciting trio in attack.
An excellent turn and shot from Ciro Immobile almost gave Toro a lead within the opening couple of minutes, but he was denied by Mariano Andujar. From the resulting corner, Immobile hit the bar with a header, and then Emiliano Moretti somehow volleyed over from close range.
However, Torino deservedly went ahead in the tenth minute after former Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie somehow lost his footing, and that allowed Immobile to go through on goal before calmly finishing past Andujar.
The former Genoa striker was having an enjoyable afternoon, and he should have doubled Toro's lead when he received an excellent through ball from Omar El Kaddouri, and then rounded the goalkeeper - but he was unable to finish from a difficult angle.
But Toro were able to double their advantage sixty seconds later, when a mistimed interception by Tiberio Guarente set the ball up perfectly for El Kaddouri, and the Moroccan international scored his first goal for the club with ease.
The away side got a goal back five minutes after the break when substitute Sebastian Leto's left footed shot looped over Padelli and into the net. The Granata were particularly upset at this goal, as they felt they should have been awarded a penalty moments earlier when Jaroslav PlaĊĦil fouled El Kaddouri in the area.
However, Torino re-established their two goal advantage ten minutes later when Alessio Cerci's corner was glanced home by the veteran defender Emiliano Moretti. And two minutes later the result was put beyond any doubt when El Kaddouri scored his second goal of the game after Immobile's initial shot was saved.
Toro had opportunities to make the scoreline more impressive, but top scorer Alessio Cerci twice decided to go for goal himself despite the fact a simple pass would have given a team mate a simple tap in.
This was a much needed result for Torino, and will hopefully kick start a season that had began in impressive fashion. Toro's next two fixtures against Genoa and Lazio are both winnable games, and positive results in those fixtures could alter the narrative of Toro's campaign dramatically.
Forza Toro!
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Atalanta 2-0 Torino
Torino fell to their first defeat of the season as they lost 2-0 at Atalanta on Sunday evening, despite the Granata hitting the woodwork on two occasions.
Toro made three changes to the side that beat Sassuolo last weekend, with Migjen Basha, Omar El Kaddouri and Marcelo Larrondo all coming into the eleven. The omission of Alessio Cerci from the starting line up was certainly a surprise, but the Italy international was apparently struggling with an injury.
The home side started brightly, as firstly Giacomo Bonaventura and then German Denis went close for Atalanta, with the latter forcing a good save from Daniele Padelli. At the other end, Omar El Kaddouri almost scored a memorable goal on the counter attack after running from his own half, but he was denied by Andrea Consigli.
From the resulting corner, Torino went even closer as Matteo Darmian stabbed the ball onto the crossbar. And it took a miraculous save from Consigli to deny Toro's other wing back, as Danilo D'Ambrosio almost headed Torino into the lead from close range.
At the start of the second half, an inch-perfect pass from D'Ambrosio put Larrondo through on goal, but the Argentine striker could only hit the side netting with his shot. Moments later, the former Siena man had another excellent chance to give Torino the lead from the edge of the area, but on this occasion he ballooned the ball over the bar.
With Toro missing so many clear cut chances, the inevitable happened after 57 minutes when Toro failed to deal with a free kick and the ball fell kindly to Guglielmo Stendardo who struck it past Padelli to give the home side the lead. However, there were question marks regarding whether the goal should have stood as fellow defender Mario Yepes was clearly standing in an offside position which left Padelli unsighted.
Giampiero Ventura acted immediately as he took captain Kamil Glik off and brought on Alessio Cerci as the team switched to a 4-3-3 formation. Moments after that switch, Toro came narrowly close to an equaliser as Omar El Kaddouri struck an excellent free kick but it rebounded off the crossbar.
But Toro's inability to defend set pieces was their downfall once again, as Atalanta doubled their lead ten minutes from time when an unmarked Stefano Lucchini powered a header past Padelli.
This was a difficult loss for Toro to take considering they were the better team for much of the contest, but they learnt a valuable lesson regarding the importance of defending set pieces properly. However, there were a number of positives also - the performance of Omar El Kaddouri especially - and the fact that they were able to create so many chances, but unfortunately were unable to convert any of them.
Forza Torino
Toro made three changes to the side that beat Sassuolo last weekend, with Migjen Basha, Omar El Kaddouri and Marcelo Larrondo all coming into the eleven. The omission of Alessio Cerci from the starting line up was certainly a surprise, but the Italy international was apparently struggling with an injury.
The home side started brightly, as firstly Giacomo Bonaventura and then German Denis went close for Atalanta, with the latter forcing a good save from Daniele Padelli. At the other end, Omar El Kaddouri almost scored a memorable goal on the counter attack after running from his own half, but he was denied by Andrea Consigli.
From the resulting corner, Torino went even closer as Matteo Darmian stabbed the ball onto the crossbar. And it took a miraculous save from Consigli to deny Toro's other wing back, as Danilo D'Ambrosio almost headed Torino into the lead from close range.
At the start of the second half, an inch-perfect pass from D'Ambrosio put Larrondo through on goal, but the Argentine striker could only hit the side netting with his shot. Moments later, the former Siena man had another excellent chance to give Torino the lead from the edge of the area, but on this occasion he ballooned the ball over the bar.
With Toro missing so many clear cut chances, the inevitable happened after 57 minutes when Toro failed to deal with a free kick and the ball fell kindly to Guglielmo Stendardo who struck it past Padelli to give the home side the lead. However, there were question marks regarding whether the goal should have stood as fellow defender Mario Yepes was clearly standing in an offside position which left Padelli unsighted.
Giampiero Ventura acted immediately as he took captain Kamil Glik off and brought on Alessio Cerci as the team switched to a 4-3-3 formation. Moments after that switch, Toro came narrowly close to an equaliser as Omar El Kaddouri struck an excellent free kick but it rebounded off the crossbar.
But Toro's inability to defend set pieces was their downfall once again, as Atalanta doubled their lead ten minutes from time when an unmarked Stefano Lucchini powered a header past Padelli.
This was a difficult loss for Toro to take considering they were the better team for much of the contest, but they learnt a valuable lesson regarding the importance of defending set pieces properly. However, there were a number of positives also - the performance of Omar El Kaddouri especially - and the fact that they were able to create so many chances, but unfortunately were unable to convert any of them.
Forza Torino
Friday, 12 July 2013
Torino complete double signing
Torino have made two more additions to their squad after completing the signings of striker Ciro Immobile and Omar El Kaddouri.
Immobile has signed on a co-ownership deal after Juventus purchased the remaining 50% of his contract from Genoa, and then immediately sold it to their city rivals. The twenty-three year old made his name at Pescara during the 2011/12 where he was the Serie B Capocannoniere after scoring a remarkable 28 goals, including three against Torino.
The Granata have also completed the signing of Belgian-Moroccan trequartista Omar El Kaddouri on a loan deal from Napoli. Like Immobile, El Kaddouri is another talented youngster who has excelled in Serie B, but has of yet has not been given much of an opportunity in the top flight.
Toro have also announced the departure of winger Alen Stevanovic, as the Serbian international has joined Palermo on loan.
Immobile has signed on a co-ownership deal after Juventus purchased the remaining 50% of his contract from Genoa, and then immediately sold it to their city rivals. The twenty-three year old made his name at Pescara during the 2011/12 where he was the Serie B Capocannoniere after scoring a remarkable 28 goals, including three against Torino.
The Granata have also completed the signing of Belgian-Moroccan trequartista Omar El Kaddouri on a loan deal from Napoli. Like Immobile, El Kaddouri is another talented youngster who has excelled in Serie B, but has of yet has not been given much of an opportunity in the top flight.
Toro have also announced the departure of winger Alen Stevanovic, as the Serbian international has joined Palermo on loan.
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