Udinese continue their recovery while Torino keep plummeting towards the bottom of the table. That was the takeaway from Saturday afternoon’s Serie A game at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino as the visitor Friulani saw their double lead cancelled but still managed to score a third time to take home all the three points on offer.
For Marco Giampaolo and the Granata, recovering a double gap in the space of two minutes was not enough and, with a one-point margin ahead of last-placed Crotone, their situation is getting extremely precarious.
Torino can blame the referee for allowing the Bianconeri an irregular goal that opened the scoring, but had very little to show on their part – except for their sudden reaction when they were already two goals down. That’s definitely too little and won’t help Giampaolo keep his job if he doesn’t find a way to reverse the trend soon.
Luca Gotti, on the other hand, seems to be succeeding in navigating Udinese out of troubled waters. This is the third win in a row for the Friulani, who have found a solid 3-5-2 lineup despite still facing some key absences among their expected starters.
?| STARTING XI
— Torino Football Club (@TorinoFC_1906) December 12, 2020
Questi i granata che scenderanno in campo alle 18#TorinoUdinese#SFT pic.twitter.com/SPOH4aEIbv
The scorers were troubled on 24 minutes as Gerard Deulofeu served Ignacio Pussetto an assist that the Argentine striker only had to push in the back of the net to put the visitors ahead. There was, however, a clear foul in the build-up as Walace pushed down Torino’s Souahilo Meite to recover the ball in midfield and ignite Deulofeu’s counterattack. But neither referee Davide Massa nor his VAR assistants seemed to think so.
Torino had nothing to show for after the initial 45 minutes and Giampaolo had to take some drastic measures in a desperate attempt to shake his side up. Three changes were made by the coach after the break, as Armando Izzo, Sasa Lukic, and Federico Bonazzoli replaced Nicolas Nkolou, Souahilo Meite and Simone Zaza.
Still, it was Udinese to open a gash into the home defense again, with Rodrigo De Paul finalizing for the best a Roberto Pereyra service. It was 0-2 for Udinese, and Giampaolo had to resort to an additional change, bringing on Amer Gojak for Mergim Vojvoda around the one-hour mark.
I nostri 1⃣1⃣ in campo contro il #Torino ?#TorinoUdinese #ForzaUdinese #AlèUdin pic.twitter.com/VEN7lqtk5S
— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) December 12, 2020
This time, the change seemed to produce some sort of an effect as Torino unexpectedly managed to rebalance the game. On 66 minutes, Bonazzoli stole the ball to Samir and served Andrea Belotti a golden chance to score his 100th goal as a Granata. The Rooster didn’t need to be told twice and promptly slotted the ball home.
One minute later, Belotti returned the courtesy as he turned provider and serviced Bonazzoli with a brilliant back-heel pass to facilitate Torino’s number 26’s equalizer.
The Granata‘s joy lasted only three more minutes, however, as substitute Ilja Nestorovski beat Salvatore Sirigu for the third time and set the score at 2-3 for the visitor Bianconeri. Torino tried to react again, but their good intentions crashed into Sirigu’s crossbar together with Ricardo Rodriguez’s late free-kick effort.
MATCH REPORT
December 12, 2020 – Europa League 2020-21 Group Stage
TORINO-UDINESE 2-3
SCORERS: 24′ Pussetto (U), 54′ De Paul (U), 66′ Belotti (T), 67′ Bonazzoli (T), 69′ Nestorovski (U)
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TORINO (3-5-2): Sirigu; Lyanco, Nkoulou (46′ Izzo), Rodriguez; Singo, Meite (46′ Lukic), Rincon, Linetty, Vojvoda (65′ Gojak); Zaza (46′ Bonazzoli), Belotti (Rosati, Milinkovic-Savic, Bremer, Segre, Edera, Murru, Vianni, Buongiorno) Coach: Giampaolo |
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UDINESE (3-5-2): Musso; Bonifazi, Nuytinck (43′ Becao), Samir; Stryger Larsen, De Paul, Walace (61′ Mandragora), Pereyra (82′ Makengo), Zeegelaar; Pussetto (82′ Lasagna), Deulofeu (62′ Nestorovski) (Gasparini, Scuffet, Molina, Ter Avest, Micin, Palumbo, Coulibaly) Coach: Gotti |
REFEREE: Mr. Massa from Imperia
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Lyanco, Vojvoda, Lukic (T), Pereyra, Becao, Musso (U); Extra Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 4′
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