 01-02-07, 07:44 PM | #95 (permalink) |
| Used In Squad Rotation Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 366 Thanks: 74 Thanked 3 Times in 1 Post Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTW/F/M Award(s): 0 | 
 Cagliari - Torino 18th of March 2007 Sant' Elia, Cagliari Italian Serie A 2006/2007 - Week 29     19'  Habib Bamogo - 26' Elvis Abbruscato, 61' Iacopo Balestri
Elvis Abbruscato and Iacopo Balestri scored memorable goals for Torino in another victory, but the display wasn't promising.
Stefano Fiore was allowed to return into the first eleven for this tricky away tie at Cagliari. The home-side didn't have any injuries, though the visitors had to do without Giuseppe Pancaro who catched a virus and Andre Zuba who couldn't complete his recovery.
Masashi Oguro was surprisingly left on the stands as Vitaly Denisov sat on the bench alongside Luis Figo.
Cagliari had a strong start, but Wender's shot towards the back post from the left side of the box didn't change the scorline as it went wide.
Though after a passive start where Cagliari was dominant they got the lead. Habib Bamago taped in a low Mauro Esposito cross from 6 meters.
Then Cabayae couldn't double the lead with a free-kick 25-meters from goal - his shot flew over.
Torino didn't have much of a say at the start of the match, but it was known that Elvis Abbruscato will make use of even one centimetere of too much space you give him and it proved costly.
The striker combined with Gianluca Comotto on the wing before rushing past two players on his way to the box and lashing an amazing powerful shot from a tight angle, more than 10 meters from goal, into the back post.
 "What can't he do?" shouted Fabio Caressa after the goal in Sky Sports coverage
It was the 25th league goal for the 25-year old and it wasn't certainly the first of his fantastic antics this season which recently led into a contract extension until 2015 with his salary rising nearly three times.
Simone Barone tried incredible 35 meter free-kick, but it went harmlessly over and it would've been easy for Antonio Chimenti to catch anyway.
Iacopo Balestri was struggling hard in the left-back position and Mauro Esposito again got the most of him when he crossed in for Bamogo. Though this time he headed over the goal at near post.
Before half-time Bamogo got another shot, but his attempt to shot while turning was miserable and it flew miles over.
Despite struggling hard Torino didn't make any subs at half-time.
Though Granata wasted an incredible opportunity ten minutes into the half. Iacopo Balestri sent a brilliang long pass to Roberto Stellone who though managed to be selfish enough to try impossible shot that went wide instead of passing the ball to Abbruscato next to him who had an easy job with empty net.
Iacopo Balestri then took the matters into his own hands. After a disappointing first half he seemed to want to redeem himself over the second period. He got an assist from Nikola Lazetic free-kick as he bursted into the box, past Alessandro Budel to make an incredible goal.
Balestri shot the ball into to the far top corner from almost on level with the sideline, 8 meters from goal.
 Iacopo Balestri's first ever Torino goal was a memorable one
Cedric Konan and Luis Figo joined the party few minutes later as Torino looked to hold onto their lead.
Raffaele Schiavi managed to leave Habib Bamogo unmarked again after a long pass, but Bamogo luckily shot over from the edge of the area as Lupatelli wasn't ready to deal with the shot either.
Fredson then shot over from ten meters with his first touch on Capone cross and Barone had his dangerous shot in near post pushed for corner by Chimenti as it ended with the 2-1 scoreline.
Win put Torino amazing 13 points clear of 3rd placed Roma as all of the opponents lost points over the weekend and it's almost clear that Granata is going to be in Champions League.
Torino: 1-Cristiano Lupatelli; 3-Gianluca Comotto, 2-Raffaele Schiavi, 25-Marco Di Loreto, 22-Iacopo Balestri ; 7-Stefano Fiore (65' 5-Luis Figo), 8-Simone Barone, 17-Nikola Lazetic; 10-Alessandro Rosina; 19-Elvis Abbruscato , 11-Roberto Stellone (65' 24-Cedric Konan)
Cautioned  : 24' Raffaele Schiavi, 65' Nikola Lazetic
Other Results
Atalanta 1-0 Chievo
Fiorentina 0-1 Catania
Inter 3-0 Empoli
Parma 2-1 Livorno
Reggina 1-1 Ascoli
Roma 1-1 Lazio
Udinese 3-1 Milan
Palermo 1-1 Sampdoria
Torino Position: 2nd |
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