Torino beat Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 in the second leg of their Europa League knock-out tie on Thursday night, but exited the competition 2-1 on aggregate.
Despite needing to start on the front-foot, it was a quiet first-half at the Stadio Olimpico, as the Granata were largely restricted to set-pieces against a comfortable Zenit.
The second period was more of the same from Torino, with good positions failing to turn into threatening efforts on goal. However, despite Kamil Glik heading the hosts ahead on the night after 89 minutes, Zenit held out to progress to the quarter-finals.
With an early goal crucial, Il Toro’s confidence was boosted when Cristian Molinaro’s early chip was diverted onto the post, showing their threat despite being flagged offside.
The high Zenit line restricted Torino as offside calls halted their progress, meaning the hosts had to wait until 16th minute to threaten; although Alexander Farnerud’s whipped free-kick flashed just wide of Yury Lodygin’s goal.
With chances few and far between, the first-half suited the Zenitchiki, who bided their time on the ball and forced Maxi Lopez to snatch at a chance from a long ball over the top in a rare sight on goal.
The Granata’s best chance was to come from a piece of skill or mistake, and the latter occurred as Anatoliy Tymoschuk hand-balled on the edge of the area: Fabio Quagliarella fired in a goal-bound free-kick that was deflected wide.
From the resulting corner a goalmouth scramble was eventually cleared, having appeared to bounce off the back of Lopez when nudged goal-wards, the keeper stranded. Moments later, an unmarked Quagliarella headed straight at Lodygin.
The visitors were a threat on the counter, as Hulk galloped forward to show, but Torino were desperate for a first-half goal. Nevertheless, it was Axel Witsel who broke free to shoot for a crucial away goal, a vital block keeping it goal-less at the break.
The second-half began in much the same fashion, but this time the hosts did hit the back of the net. Kamil Glik met Farnerud’s free-kick to head into the far corner, but was disallowed offside in a close-call decision.
The game’s high-tempered nature resulted in a number of yellow cards handed out, but while Torino were still able to create chances, they struggled to force Lodygin into making saves.
Into the last 20 minutes, the home team’s control in attack began to waver as the Bomzhi began to work openings with the threat of a Torino counter dying out, the loss of Farnerud to injury not helping Giampiero Ventura’s side.
The Granata then forced the opposition goalkeeper into an acrobatic double save from Josef Martinez’s and Alessandro Gazzi’s headers with time running out.
And yet, while throwing attackers on, Torino edged ahead on the night thanks to a powerful Glik header, just as six stoppage time minutes began.
Fighting to stay in Europe, Quagliarella had a bouncing volley blocked on the line but the visitors were able to ease the pressure and claim the aggregate win.
