Tag: Torino

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Torino 0-0 AC Milan: Door open for Inter after Rossoneri held

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AC Milan opened the door for Inter Milan to temporarily reclaim the lead of the Serie A title race as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Torino.

The Rossoneri were tasked with responding after Inter’s 2-0 win over Hellas Verona on Saturday, which moved the Nerazzurri just a point adrift.

But, after seeing fellow challengers Napoli slip up with a 3-1 home defeat to Fiorentina, Milan also stumbled.

Clear-cut chances were few and far between, Milan failing to take advantage of their edge in possession.

It means Inter can go a point ahead at the top with a win at Spezia on Friday, when they kick off two hours before Milan host Genoa.

Davide Calabria’s long-range effort drew a strong save from Etrit Berisha in the 24th minute before Torino midfielder Samuele Ricci fired wide of the near post at the other end.

Mike Maignan tipped over from Mergim Vojvoda five minutes after the restart as Torino created the better opportunities in the second half.

Sandro Tonali was denied by Berisha after cleverly working his way into the box, with Andrea Belotti seeing a chance to secure a shock win for Torino go begging when he fired into the side-netting on an evening where the Granata were full value for a stalemate that could prove pivotal in the battle for the Scudetto.

After Napoli were beaten at home by La Viola, their coach Luciano Spalletti suggested their title hopes were out of their hands.

Such an assessment may have been premature after Milan dropped points again, recording successive 0-0 draws in Serie A for the first time since December 2018, when they also had back-to-back stalemates from games with Torino and Bologna.

Just six points separate the top four, with Juventus not out of the hunt. It is Inter who look to be in the driver’s seat, though, trailing by just two points with a game in hand on their arch rivals.

A primary source of Milan’s frustration was Torino centre-back Bremer, who was outstanding at the back for the hosts. 

The Brazilian, linked with Liverpool and Inter, produced a game-high six clearances as well as three tackles and three blocks, winning possession five times.

Milan coach Stefano Pioli was booked for remonstrating with the referee after full-time, though perhaps he was more exasperated by his side producing only three shots on target, heightening the pressure on them from the chasing pack.

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LOCATELLI STRIKES LATE TO GIVE JUVENTUS DERBY WIN OVER TORINO

Manuel Locatelli struck late to earn Juventus a 1-0 win over Torino in the Turin derby on Saturday, as the Old Lady stretched their winning run to four games in all competitions and kept a Serie A clean sheet for the first time in seven months.

The Italy international fired a shot in off the post with four minutes remaining, his second consecutive league goal, as Juve rose to eighth place with 11 points, three ahead of their 11th-placed rivals.

Torino controlled the first half as Juve failed to register a shot on target, but Massimiliano Allegri’s side improved after the break and Alex Sandro’s header required a fine save from Vanja Milinkovic before Locatelli’s late winner.

Ivan Juric’s side struggled to threaten Wojciech Szczesny’s goal, and Juventus kept things tight defensively to end a run stretching back to March of 20 matches in a row conceding in Serie A.

Allegri’s side earned an impressive and unexpected win over European champions Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to five matches.

But the coach warned his players that the local derby would be an even greater challenge, with strikers Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata still injured and Torino having two extra days to prepare.

There were early chances for Juve as Moise Kean flashed a shot wide and Weston McKennie blasted over a promising opportunity.

But Toro soon gained control and came close when Sasa Lukic glanced a header wide and Rolando Mandragora’s long-range piledriver was parried by Szczesny.

Allegri introduced Juan Cuadrado for Moise Kean at halftime, with Federico Chiesa returning to the striker role he played against Chelsea.

The change sparked some life into Juve’s attack as the Colombian teed up Sandro with an excellent cross that required a sharp Milinkovic-Savic save.

Locatelli found space at the edge of the area to fire home the winner in the 86th minute, before substitute Dejan Kulusevski thumped the foot of the post with a shot in stoppage time.

Earlier on Saturday, Salernitana climbed off the foot of the table after Milan Djuric’s header sealed a 1-0 win over Genoa, their first victory of the season.

The newly promoted side’s victory moved them up to four points, one behind Genoa in 16th and one more than bottom side Cagliari.

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AC MILAN WIN PENALTY SHOOTOUT AGAINST TORINO TO REACH ITALIAN CUP QUARTER FINAL.

AC Milan goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu celebrated a rare appearance with a penalty save to secure his side a 5-4 shootout victory following a 0-0 draw with Torino in the Italian Cup on Tuesday.

Milan will meet with either local rivals Inter Milan or Fiorentina in the quarter-finals.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was given his first start since a thigh injury ruled him out for six weeks in November, but he was replaced at halftime.

After a tame first half in which neither side created much in the way of goalscoring chances, Milan came out with more purpose in the second and might have been 2-0 up inside the opening 15 minutes.

Rafael Leao forced a good save from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the Torino goal. Later, Diogo Dalot could have scored when a rebound fell kindly to him, but his effort skewed onto the post.

Milan substitute goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was red-carded on the bench for dissent on a frustrating night as Brahim Diaz blasted over with the best chance of the second half, before Tatarusanu won the game with his shootout heroics.

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IBRAHIMOVIC RETURNS AS AC MILAN BOUNCE BACK TO BEAT TORINO.

AC Milan went four points clear at the top of Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Torino on Saturday as Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his comeback from injury.

The league leaders’ 27-match unbeaten run was ended by Juventus on Wednesday, but they showed little sign of dwelling on the result as a Rafael Leao strike and Franck Kessie penalty gave the hosts a commanding lead by halftime.

Ricardo Rodriguez summoned the visitors’ best effort when he crashed a free kick off the bar, but they struggled to threaten in open play.

A further boost for Milan was the return of top scorer Ibrahimovic, who came on as a substitute for the final five minutes to make his first appearance since suffering an injury against Napoli on Nov. 22.

“Now he needs to get back into good condition and we must work out how to manage that,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN.

“He’s always available and collaborative, we’ll find the best solution. Zlatan is so strong in everything he does. We hope to have him back at his top condition as soon as possible.”

The result leaves Milan on 40 points, four ahead of rivals Internazionale, who travel to third-placed AS Roma on Sunday.

Torino, whose four-match unbeaten run came to an end, remain in 19th place on 12 points, two adrift of the safety zone.

The visitors sat deep and looked to frustrate the hosts in the first half, but Milan broke through after 25 minutes through a calm Leao finish, before Kessie calmly converted his spot kick after Brahim Diaz had been tripped by Andrea Belotti.

Torino were awarded a penalty early in the second half for a foul by Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali, but referee Fabio Maresca overturned the decision following an on-field VAR review.

Tonali hurt himself in the process and was carried off on a stretcher to worsen an injury crisis that had already ruled out five players, but Ibrahimovic made his long-awaited comeback to leave Pioli feeling upbeat.

“I wasn’t surprised, I expected this response,” he said.

“The team is young but strong. We played the first half at a very high level, then in the second half it was normal to suffer a little. I’m very satisfied.

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SERIE A: AGELESS IBRAHIMOVIC’S BRACE HELP AC MILAN BEAT NAPOLI: INTER MILAN COME FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT TORINO.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains unstoppable and AC Milan remain unbeaten atop Serie A.

The 39-year-old Ibrahimovic scored twice to raise his total to 10 goals in six games played as Milan won 3-1 at Napoli on Sunday.

“He seems even stronger now than he was 10-12 years ago,” said Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso, who teamed with Ibrahimovic when Milan last won the Italian league in 2011.

However, there was concern for Ibrahimovic when he exited toward the end clutching his hamstring. The Swedish superstar already missed two games this season after contracting the coronavirus.

” It looks like a muscular problem but we’ll have to wait a few days to understand the extent of it,” said Milan assistant coach Daniele Bonera, who was standing in for head coach Stefano Pioli, who has the coronavirus .

The Rossoneri again moved two points ahead of Sassuolo, which won 2-0 at Hellas Verona earlier to also remain undefeated through eight rounds.

Having also beaten Inter Milan in the city derby and drawn with Roma, Milan’s unexpected title credentials are growing week by week.

Milan finished no better than fifth the past seven seasons.

“It shows that we’re on the right track,” Bonera said. “But it’s really premature after eight rounds to talk about what might happen in May. There’s a long way to go.”

Ibrahimovic soared above Kalidou Koulibaly to head in from long range following a cross from Theo Hernandez midway through the first half.

After Giovanni Di Lorenzo hit the crossbar for Napoli, Ibrahimovic used his thigh to steer in another goal by the far post following a cross from Ante Rebic near the hour mark.

Dries Mertens pulled one back for Napoli less than 10 minutes later from close range after getting away from Alessio Romagnoli.

But Napoli’s comeback quickly lost steam when Tiémoué Bakayoko was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a foul on Hernandez.

Jens Petter Hauge added another goal for Milan five minutes into stoppage time, from a tight angle.

INTER COMEBACK

Two late goals helped Inter Milan fight back from 2-0 down to beat Torino 4-2 thanks to an inspired Romelu Lukaku.

Both sides had players ruled out with the coronavirus . Torino was also missing coach Marco Giampaolo because of the virus and forward Andrea Belotti pulled out injured during the warmup.

His replacement, Simone Zaza, fired Torino in front on the stroke of halftime and Cristian Ansaldi doubled the visitors’ lead in the 62nd from the penalty spot after Ashley Young fouled Wilfried Stephane Singo.

Inter pulled one back just two minutes later as Lukaku’s shot came off the crossbar with Alexis Sánchez managing to fire in the rebound.

Lukaku then hit the post before turning in Sánchez’s cross.

And Inter’s comeback was complete six minutes from time when Lukaku converted a penalty after Achraf Hakimi was tripped in the area by Nicolas Nkoulou.

Inter sealed the match in the final minute when Lukaku ran down the left and rolled across for Lautaro Martínez to tap in.

SUPER SASSUOLO

It is only Sassuolo’s eighth season in the Italian top flight and the team has never finished higher than sixth. But a Champions League spot is now in sight for the Emilia-Romagna club.

Verona dominated the match, hitting the woodwork four times. But Sassuolo broke the deadlock three minutes from the interval and against the run of play.

Jérémie Boga latched onto Domenico Berardi’s crossfield pass and curled it into the far top corner.

Berardi got onto the scoresheet himself in the 76th minute as Verona players failed to close him down before he unleashed a shot that took a slight deflection to dip under the crossbar.

Sassuolo remained one point ahead of third-place Roma, which beat Parma 3-0.

OTHER MATCHES

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice in an impressive first half for Roma after Borja Mayoral’s opener.

Mkhitaryan has now scored five goals in his last two Serie A matches.

Cesare Prandelli’s first match back in charge of Fiorentina ended in a 1-0 defeat at home to Benevento.

Also, Bologna won 2-1 at Sampdoria and Udinese beat Genoa 1-0.