Verona narrowly defeated a spirited Torino side 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday evening.
The goal arrived in the second half from substitute Artur Ionita, who scored his first Serie A goal within minutes of entering the field.
The home side came into the tie desperate to record their first win of the season in front of their home fans. The visitors, meanwhile, had already notched up an impressive four points from their opening two fixtures to continue their impressive form from last season.
The two sides battled through a scrappy first half that was short on quality. The best chances arrived from set pieces, which Verona proved to be a danger from.
After 17 minutes, an excellent in-swinging cross from a Lazaros Christodoulopoulos free kick was met by the head of Panagiotis Tachtsidis, who directed the ball narrowly wide.
Midway through the opening period the first half’s best chance arrived. This time it was a delivery from a corner that caused the Torino backline problems, as Juanito Gomez met the cross with his head at full gallop only to see his effort crash back off the foot of the post.
Torino enjoyed a decent spell of possession but rarely threatened to carve open the Gialloblu defence, with an Amauri header on the half hour mark that flew wide proving their best attempt.
Toro flew out of the blocks in the second half and began to pile on the pressure, but Verona stood resolute. Emiliano Moretti made a break forward, exchanging a one-two with Fabio Quagliarella before forcing Rafael into a good low save at his near post.
The home side’s pressing continued and they were very nearly rewarded on the hour mark. Quagliarella unleashed a low shot from 18 yards that Rafael parried well, and after Matteo Darmian swung in a cross the former Juventus man failed to direct his header on target with the goal gaping.
The Granata were soon punished for their wastefulness as the visitors took the lead.
Substitute Artur Ionita, within a matter of minutes of being substituted on, cut inside and battled his way into a shooting position from which he smashed a low shot past the goalkeeper to mark his first Serie A goal.
With five minutes remaining, Torino were awarded a penalty in controversial circumstances. The referee appeared to not blow his whistle but after consultation, gave the home side a chance to equalise late on after a clumsy challenge from Rafael Marquez.
Rafael then pulled off a world-class double save to deny Omar El Kadourri from the spot, saving first low to his right before getting back on his feet to smother the Moroccan’s second attempt.
The home fans again thought they had their sought-after equaliser late on, but Marcelo Larrondo was offside before smashing the ball into the net.
Follow Alasdair Mackenzie on Twitter: @olimpiacalcio
