Finally, the second victory!

di Andrea Rosselli

 

Toro collected the second victory of the season tonight on the Stadio Olimpico pitch by defeating Sampdoria 1-0 at the end of a very good match, by far the most convincing outing of the...

di Andrea Rosselli

Toro collected the second victory of the season tonight on the Stadio Olimpico pitch by defeating Sampdoria 1-0 at the end of a very good match, by far the most convincing outing of the season for Zaccheroni’s men.

In order to grab this fundamental win, which came at the end of a very difficult week due to the fans’ protest, the Granata needed a penalty kick by Rosina with 10 minutes to go. However, Toro’s domination over the Blucerchiati was clear for most of the 90 minutes, thanks to a stronger motivation, and the triumph was absolutely deserved: Toro finally showed the determination the fans expected, although there’s still plenty of room to improve the play’s quality.

Alberto Zaccheroni surprisingly fielded Lazetic and Ardito in the starting lineup, benching both De Ascentis and Fiore. The move definitely worked, as the Granata managed to be very aggressive in the middle and much quicker offensively especially thanks to a superb Alessandro Rosina, the best man on the pitch. The diminutive forward created a big chance for Lazetic after 19 minutes, but the Serbian winger’s right footer was superbly saved by Berti; on the following corner kick, a header by Stellone skimmed the post.

On the other side, Samp were completely innocuous offensively and Christian Abbiati didn’t have to make a single save, thanks to a very concentrated defensive line led by a great Cioffi.

Between the final part of the first half and the beginning of the second the match wasn’t really attractive: the pace slowed down and both teams made plenty of mistakes. Around the 60th minute, however, the Granata started putting a big pressure on the guests’ defence, especially when Abbruscato replaced Lazetic. In fact, Zaccheroni’s move was the decisive one: around the 75th minute the former Arezzo striker forced Berti to make a great save, and five minutes later he was clearly taken down inside the box by Sala. Rosina didn’t miss the chance and converted the penalty kick.

In the final ten minutes there were no real dangers for Abbiati, and Toro could finally celebrate with the Maratona this key victory.