Torino defeated Cesena 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin on Wednesday in Serie A.
An early first half strike by Matteo Darmian was enough for the Granata to secure three points and handed the Ducali their sixth straight defeat.
The hosts started more strongly and soon got their due reward. Following great work down the right wing, Bruno Peres crossed the ball for Matteo Darmian to smash a right footed volley past Antonio Mirante and put Torino 1-0 up, inside the first 10 minutes.
Peres continued to be a handful for the Ducali and was fouled by Massimo Gobbi at the edge of the area on the right wing. From the resulting freekick, Kamil Glik’s header deflected just inches off target.
Fabio Quagliarella tried to catch Mirante out with a speculative 40 yard shot but the keeper was alert and comfortably saved the effort.
Granata continued to stamp their authority by denying Parma any space or time on the ball. A counter attack by Torino in the 39th minute resulted in the ball breaking down the right hand side for Giuseppe Vives whose drilled cross found Amauri, only for the forward put the ball wide.
The first half concluded with Andrea Costa’s heading just over the bar from Francesco Lodi’s corner. Torino sat firmly in control of the match and Parma were yet to register a shot on target.
The second half started in similar fashion. A well work move saw Darmian being put through on goal, only to be denied by a last ditch slide tackle by Andrea Rispoli.
A few minutes later, Parma’s defence were unable clear a cross and the ball fell to Quagliarella. An acrobatic effort from the Italian skimmed past the post.
Parma grew in the match as the half went on and a quick counter attack resulted in Afriyie Acquah being one on one with Jean-François Gillet. The keeper was more than up to the task and denied Parma an equaliser. The rebound from the shot fell to Rispoli on the right wing and Massimo Coda met his cross with a header that came back off the post.
The attacking intent shown by Parma in the second half almost bore fruit. A sublime through ball by Lodi picked out Coda and the Italian finished with aplomb, only to have the goal chalked off for a handball. Parma’s bench were incensed with the decision and protestations resulted in a red for Alex Cordaz who was an unused substitute.
At the 85th minute mark, Torino had the perfect opportunity to put the game beyond doubt. Quagliarella was put through on goal and tried to chip the on-rushing Mirante, the keeper palmed the effort in to the path of Juan Sanchez Mino who inexplicably put the ball wide with the net gaping.
A tired Parma side gave it their all in the dying moments to secure a point but a solid Torino defence were not breached and held on for maximum points.
