Second point of the season

di Andrea Rosselli

 

The first win is yet to come, but the Granata are improving: that's the most important verdict of the match between Reggina and Torino, who drew 1-1 today at the Stadio Granillo in Reggio...

di Andrea Rosselli

The first win is yet to come, but the Granata are improving: that's the most important verdict of the match between Reggina and Torino, who drew 1-1 today at the Stadio Granillo in Reggio Calabria.

The second point of the season was definitely deserved for Zaccheroni's team: Toro finally looked concentrated and determinated for most of the 90 minutes, creating several good scoring opportunities and making less defensive mistakes than in the previous three outings. Still, one of those errors allowed the hosts to take the lead at the beginning of the second half, but luckily Comotto managed to level the score just a few minutes later.

As expected, Zaccheroni fielded the so-called “Christmas tree” formation, a 4-3-2-1 with Fiore and Rosina behind Stellone: this was quite a surprise, as the Roman striker, who left the pitch on Wednesday with a knee injury, wasn't even expected to be on the bench.

Toro started very well and dominated the first ten minutes, taking control of the midfield and creating a couple of very good opportunities with Stellone in the 3rd minute (good save by Pelizzoli) and Fiore in the 9th (right-footer just over the bar). A few seconds later, Leon hit the bar with a powerful free kick, and this chance boosted the hosts who went close to the 1-0 with a header by Amoruso in the 12th minute.

After this difficult moment, the Granata reacted properly and almost took the lead once again with Stellone, whose header in the 25th minute flew just over the bar. The second part of the first half was pretty balanced, Toro controlled the pace of the game but Stellone couldn't do it all against Reggina's defence, also because both Rosina and Fiore were pretty uninspired today.

The start of the second half was quite shocking: after 9 minutes a cross by Leon put Modesto all alone in front of Abbiati, who couldn't stop the left back's header: Reggina 1- Toro 0, and another costly defensive mistake for us.

The reaction was pretty weak and confused: around the hour mark Muzzi replaced Rosina, and a few minutes later a corner kick by Lazetic found Comotto in the middle of the box: accurate header on a bouncing ball and deserved 1-1 for the guests.

Boosted by the equalizer, Toro kept on attacking and wasted a huge opportunity with 20 minutes to go, when Muzzi coulnd't exploit a superb pass by Stellone and stumbled right in front of the empty net.

The last minutes of the match, with Lazetic and Ardito replacing Fiore and Gallo respectively, was quite balanced, even though Stellone for Toro and Amoruso for Reggina wasted a couple of decent chances. In the end a good draw for Toro, and hopefully the first win of the season will come next Saturday at the Olimpico against Lazio.