Torino go top of Serie A after beating 10-man Verona in feisty thriller
The visitors did most of the early running, and they were rewarded when Antonio Sanabria broke the deadlock after 10 minutes, as he burst through on goal and confidently converted into the bottom corner.
The advantage lasted less than two minutes though, as Paolo Zanetti’s side equalised when Grigoris Kastanos’ fiercely whipped effort from outside the box flicked the head of a defender and curled away from goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
That was as good as the Gialloblu’s night would get though. They were soon down to 10 men, as Pawel Dawidowicz was shown an eighth career red card for an elbow on Sanabria as Verona defended a corner, and although the striker rattled the post with the resulting penalty, the die had been cast for the rest of the match.
And after Sebastian Walukiewicz had fired off target with one effort, the Granata duly retook the lead thanks to a towering header from Duvan Zapata, who met Valentino Lazaro’s inswinging cross from the right.
Walukiewicz then sent a swerving strike just wide from distance before the break, before seeing another effort from a similar range deflect for a corner after half-time.
Gvidas Gineitis also slapped wide from 30 yards, as Torino hit cruise control by enjoying over 70% of the possession and making their numerical advantage count.
They finally put the game to bed with 11 minutes remaining, thanks to a second goal of the season for Che Adams.
The Scottish international profited from an awful pass by Reda Belahyane, burst forward and found the bottom corner with a strike that took a small deflection off a defender’s trailing leg.
That confirmed a win that means Torino have picked up 11 points from five games, which ranks as their joint-best start to a top-flight season this century.
Their hosts, on the other hand, did pull one back deep into added time when Belahyane dispossessed Adam Masina in the area and fed Daniel Mosquera, who thumped home, but it was not enough to avoid suffering back-to-back defeats in Serie A for the first time since the turn of the year.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Antonio Sanabria (Torino)
