 29-01-07, 07:54 PM | #92 (permalink) |
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 Ascoli - Torino 28th of February 2007 Cino e Lillo Del Ducca, Ascoli Piceno Italian Serie A 2006/2007 - Week 26     5'  Mantorras, 9'  Christopher Samba - 21' Elvis Abbruscato, 45' Gianluca Comotto, 75' Simone Barone
Torino got another victory againist Ascoli away as the opponents lost a lead thanks to an early sending off.
Torino was still flying high, but visit to Ascoli wasn't set to be an easy one. The relegation struggles have invested a lot into the team under new management and have surprised quite a few teams with some brilliant displays.
Stefano Fiore, Luis Figo and Andre Zuba were still missing out with injuries.
The game did got off to a very bad start for Torino. After just five minutes Marcel Ketelaer had a shot brilliantly saved by Cristiano Lupatelli, but the ball unluckily fell to Mantorras who taped the ball into an empty net.
Torino's 12-match unbeaten run was getting under threat, but Ascoli helped them to get a way back in. Center-back Christopher Samba couldn't hold his nerves and elbowed Elvis Abbruscato in an airial challange, being sent off.
And it immediately started to become dangerous, first Joan Luis Mora brilliantly saved an Abbruscato header, but referee said that it would've not been valid anyway as the Torino striker had adjudged to have fouled his marker.
Then on the twenty minutes another great save was pulled out of Mora, this time by a Simone Barone fantastic curling bomb from the edge of the area.
From the following corner the Torino pressure paid off. Abbruscato was having an eventful start to the match and he broke free of his marker in the box to head Alessandro Rosina's cross in from the near post.
 Abbruscato scored his 30th of the season!
Mora had his hands full of job and he then pushed over a Nikola Lazetic header.
He had to thank luck though, Rosina was having a great performance and he dribbled past three players on his way to the box, only to see his shot clip back from the post.
Though Torino broke through few minutes before half-time whistle. Iacopo Balestri played his free-kick to unmarked Gianluca Comotto on the edge of the area as the full-back got past one Ascoli player to send the ball past stranded Mora.
At half-time Torino made a change despite leading, invisible Roberto Stellone was replaced by Cedric Konan in attack.
It wasn't much of a show though at the start, in the first 25 minutes the only events were Comotto's & Daniele Galoppa's shots from 30 meters that both were far from hitting the target and a substitution that saw Balestri come out for young Uzbek Vitaly Denisov.
Though then for final minutes some better chances came. Brilliant opportunity to seal the game fell to Rosina who again couldn't score.
Konan saved the ball with a header on line that fell into path of Rosina in the middle of the box with a free way to goal. Rosina though opted to make a first touch shot and it went straight at Mora.
Torino though wanted to make sure the victory and they did so in the 75th minute, and in style. Nikola Lazetic passed the ball to Simone Barone who had previously already made a dangerous long range shot.
This time the Italian international tried again, even more further away and his curling powerful shot gave no chance to Ascoli goalkeeper.
 Barone scored a great goal
The final chance of the match fell to Ascoli, but Ervin Skela's free-kick went just wide of the far post.
Eventhough they won Torino didn't really get any extra advantage againist following opponents.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto , 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 25-Marco Di Loreto, 16-Giuseppe Pancaro; 17-Nikola Lazetic, 8-Simone Barone , 22-Iacopo Balestri (67' 33-Vitaly Denisov); 10-Alessandro Rosina; 19-Elvis Abbruscato , 11-Roberto Stellone (45' 24-Cedric Konan)
Cautioned  : 72' Gianluca Comotto, 74' Vitaly Denisov
Other Results
Catania 1-2 Atalanta
Chievo 3-3 Parma
Empoli 0-2 Fiorentina
Livorno 0-2 Roma
Messina 0-0 Palermo
Lazio 3-1 Reggina
Siena 1-2 Inter
Milan 3-1 Cagliari
Sampdoria 1-0 Udinese
Torino Position: 2nd |
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