An Andrea Belotti brace saw Torino snatch a 2-0 victory over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in Serie A on Sunday.
The Italian international blasted in on the stroke of half time, before slotting in a late penalty, as the Granata earned a first away win over Roma since 2007.
Despite enjoying the better chances in the first half, Roma were unable to break through a determined Torino defence and were consigned to a third league defeat of the season.
Roma began brightly and forced an excellent save from Salvatore Sirigu within minutes of kickoff, as Nicolo Zaniolo met Edin Dzeko’s backheel and saw a looping deflected shot clawed to safety by the goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Sirigu was required to block a low Alessandro Florenzi volley as the hosts sought an early goal, but it was Torino who fashioned the best chance of the early exchanges.
Belotti broke through and bore down on goal before unleashing a powerful strike, only to be prevented by a magnificent Pau Lopez save as the ball was tipped onto the post at full stretch.
Torino came close to breaking the deadlock on the half hour mark with the dangerous Belotti causing problems once more. The captain lost his man to get to the byline and cut the ball back for the unmarked Sasa Lukic, but the midfielder headed over from a central position.
Deep into stoppage time in the first period, Belotti found his reward as he latched on to a long ball on the edge of the box before steadying himself and rifling in a vicious strike.
The Granata striker almost doubled the lead early in the second half as Alex Berenguer slipped him in, and Belotti’s looping effort was tipped onto the crossbar by Lopez.
Roma laboured for an equaliser but struggled to create an opening, with Florenzi blazing over as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box from a freekick.
The Giallorossi began to pile on the pressure and looked to have levelled when Diego Perotti worked his way into the box and cut back for Lorenzo Pellegrini, but his shot was saved at point blank range, whilst Gianluca Mancini’s follow up was blocked and turned behind.
At the other end, with only five minutes remaining Chris Smalling was adjudged to have handled the ball as a Belotti shot ricocheted off his arm, and Torino were awarded a penalty. The Granata striker stepped up and drilled into the bottom corner, sending Lopez the wrong way and securing victory.
