Torino 1-0 Copenhagen: Late penalty drama give Granata win

Date: 2nd October 2014 at 11:11pm
Written by:

Torino defeated group B rivals Copenhagen 1-0 thanks to a Fabio Quagliarella penalty deep into stoppage time, pushing the Granata into second place in the group on four points.

Torino’s Europa League match against Copenhagen looked destined to finish scoreless in Turin as the Danes continual frustrated the Granata until Quagliarella was hauled down in the box by Mikael Antonsson in the fourth minute of stoppage time. That foul undid Copenhagen’s defensive mastery of Torino and handed the Granata a chance of progressing.

Both teams created chances in the opening half with Torino looking the more likely to score as the Granta attacked Copenhagen on the counter. Josef Martinez played a teasing ball across the 18-yard box, but strike partner Amauri was unable to get on the end of the pass.

Torino’s best chance of the first half came seven minutes later as defender Emiliano Moretti hit the woodwork following a well-worked corner by the Granata.

Though Torino continued to turn up the pressure, Copenhagen held off the Italian side. Copenhagen goalkeeper Stephan Andersen played his part as well, denying Cristian Molinaro’s piledriver of a shot and keeping the game scoreless.

Copenhagen’s chances in the first half were limited, but the Loverne nearly got off the mark thanks to a header from Andreas Cornelius; but his shot just missed over the bar.

Just as they finished the first half the better team, Torino started the second half brightly; but again failed to make the most of a 47th minute corner as Kamel Glik could only get a glancing touch on the cross.

Copenhagen attempted to slow down the game in the early part of the second half as the Danes tried to keep possession. That tactic failed to create a goal, but continued to frustrate Torino as the second half wore on.

Torino’s irritation grew as the team were unable to find a through ball in the final third. Meanwhile, Copenhagen’s defence held strong, repelling everything Toro threw at them. Giampiero Ventura introduced Omar El Kaddouri in the 69th minute as the Italians pushed for an opening goal. Ventura brought on Quagliarella minutes later to partner Amauri as he began to throw everything at Copenhagen.

While Torino made three attacking changes during the second half, it was actually Copenhagen that grew in confidence in the last quarter of an hour. The teams shared an equal amount of possession – 50% –  during the 90 minutes despite Copenhagen not registering a shot on target in the game.

Second half substitute Quagliarella was the difference as he won the penalty and calmly fired it home moments later.

Torino are now even on four points atop Group B with Belgian side Club Brugge,after the Belgian side defeated HJK Helsinki 3-0.

 

Comments are closed.