Torino put an underwhelming five-game winless run in Serie A to bed with a hard-earned 1-0 victory against Lecce. Alessandro Buongiorno scored the only goal of the game in the first half to condemn Roberto D’Aversa’s side to only their second defeat at Stadio Via del Mare this season.
Visiting manager Ivan Juric knew what was at stake for Torino after a 3-0 home loss to Inter last weekend took his team’s barren run in Serie A to four games. Scoring problems have tormented Granata for years, but only six goals in the opening nine rounds were below even their low standard.
Meanwhile, Lecce searched for a way back to winning ways after four consecutive league outings without a win. Giallorosssi started the encounter on the front foot, forcing Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic to make four saves from close range to deny Lameck Banda, Nikola Krstovic, and Pontus Almqvist.
After Lecce failed to take advantage of their early opportunities, the punishment arrived on the stroke of halftime. Samuele Ricci had a perfect first touch but miskicked the ball inside the box. Luckily for Torino, Buongiorno was lurking on the far post and had no problem smashing home from point-blank to end his team’s frustrating scoring duck.
Juric’s time-wasting tactics were at their full glory in the second half as Torino refused to consider pushing for a second. As one of the least exciting teams to watch in Serie A, the visitors lived up to their notoriety, taking every opportunity to run down the clock.
Lecce’s uneventful attacking performance played into their hands, with D’Aversa’s lads losing inspiration down the final stretch. But the feisty encounter boiled over in stoppages. Less than two minutes before the final whistle, Juric received a straight red for his tantrum by the touchline.
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