Torino returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Cagliari at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Goals from Omar El Kaddouri and Alessio Cerci were enough for Toro while Nene’s strike for the Rossoblu turned out to be little more than a consolation.
The home side went into the game off the back of a midweek defeat to Roma while the visitors were looking to pick up a valuable win to increase the eight point gap separating them from the relegation zone.
Cerci was first to get a shot on target for Giampiero Ventura’s men in the opening minutes cutting in from the right wing but Vlada Avramov in the Cagliari goal collected easily.
Diego Lopez’s side first threatened after 14 minutes when Nene showed some nice footwork on the edge of the penalty area before firing a shot just over the bar.
Minutes later El Kaddouri wasted a similar effort from the edge of the area for the home side as the game began to open up.
The Rossoblu again responded when Kamil Glik was dispossessed by Francesco Pisano who fired a great cross along the face of the goal but none of his team mates were close enough to add a finishing touch.
On 33 minutes Ricardo Meggiorini latched onto a nice through ball by Giuseppe Vives for the Granata but was only able to guide the ball wide of the post.
Meggiorini was again involved a minute later but Avramov was alert to the danger and denied the forward with a challenge which prompted penalty claims from Torino but referee Dino Tommasi awarded a corner.
Torino were consistently looking to bring talisman Cerci into the game and this paid dividends as the half moved into injury time when the winger crossed from the right for El Kaddouri to open the scoring with a diving header at the back post.
The half-time whistle sounded immediately after the goal giving the home side a one goal advantage at the break.
The second half began in disjointed fashion but it was Ventura’s side who again looked the more positive and Meggiorini, who had come into the team to replace the suspended Ciro Immobile, forced a good save from Avramov with an excellent driven shot from outside the penalty area.
El Kaddouri had a chance to score his second after 61 minutes when he controlled a cross from the left but only managed to fire his effort wide of the goal from 12 yards out.
Cagliari had offered little going forward since the break however after 66 minutes Daniele Conti had a great chance to equalise when he got his head to a cross from the right but was unable to direct his attempt at goal.
Torino continued to assert their dominance and on 71 minutes doubled their lead as Cerci latched onto an excellent Vives through ball behind the visitor’s defence to coolly slot past the on-rushing Avramov.
With the home side looking comfortable the Isolani then gave themselves a lifeline when Pisano’s excellent cross from the right was met by Nene who headed strongly past Daniele Padelli to take the score to 2-1.
This goal however didn’t inspire a heroic comeback and the game finished with Torino collecting the three points.
Follow Allan Eccles on Twitter: @bookedforsim
