Paulo Dybala was inspirational for AS Roma as he bagged hos his first Serie A hattrick since October 2018 to secure an important win for them against Cagliari.
The Giallorossi came into the tie on the back of Thursday’s Europa League play-off penalty shoot-out win over Feyenoord, and they couldn’t have asked for a better bpost this time around.
They also suffered, with Mile Svilar being the hero, as fatigue and injuries tell on Diego Llorente and Rick Karsdorp.
This was also Chris Smalling’s first start for the Gialorossi since September 1, having been out of action for over 3 months.
Paulo de Rossi also gave Evan Ndicka his first after AFCON and returned to the 3-5-2 formation.
The visitors came into the tie on the back of a 2-0 loss to fellow Roma-based side SS Lazi on Thursday, making it two defeats on the bounce.
Roma got the first real opportunity within ten minutes from a counter that began with a move from Sardar Azmoun. The Iranian went on the counter and generously rolled across for the unmarked Rasmus Kristensen, who thumped the upright of an open goal when he was undisturbed.
Torino responded with a shot from Antonio Sanabria, which went wide from a free kick and saw a shot deflected off Smalling.
After losing Matteo Lovato to a left calf strain early on, the Granata remained dangerous on the counter-attack. Raoul Bellanova stood up a cross to the back post for the Samuele Ricci half-volley onto the side-netting.
Roma were eventually rewarded with a penalty as substitute defender Saba Sazonov was late on Azmoun and trod on his foot just inside the box.
Dybala opened his goalscoring account of the match when he converted by sending Vanja Milinkovic-Savic the wrong way to put Roma in front.
Within two minutes, Toro responded and deservedly got an equaliser through Duvan Zapata.
Bellanova, through another cross from the right, met Zapata’s hea, and it bounced just in front of Mile Svilar to nestle into the far bottom corner.
The visitors almost went into the break with a lead, but Svilar got down to beat away the Nikola Vlasic scorcher from a distance.
Torino continued from where they stopped in the second half, testing Svilar through Valentin Lazaro at the base of the near post, while Gianluca Mancini failed to keep the header down on an Angelino cross.
Roma would restore their advantage with a sensational strike from Dybala. La Joya was a good 25 metres out when he curled a left-foot strike that dipped viciously into the bottom corner beyond Milinkovic-Savic for what could be the goal of the week contender.
Dybala then completed his hattrick after completing a double give-and-go with substitute Romelu Lukaku to burst down the left and beat Milinkovic-Savic from the tightest of angles with his left foot.
Vlasic tested Svilar again with a straight shot while Dybala tried to set up Edoardo Bove for a tap-in, denied by the Sazonov interception.
The visitors eventually reduced the deficit when Dean Huijsen accidentally prodded a Ricci pull-back from the by-line into his net from point-blank range.
Roma held on to the maximum as the game went into an intense finale.
The Giallorossi came into the tie on the back of Thursday’s Europa League play-off penalty shoot-out win over Feyenoord, and they couldn’t have asked for a better bpost this time around.
They also suffered, with Mile Svilar being the hero, as fatigue and injuries tell on Diego Llorente and Rick Karsdorp.
This was also Chris Smalling’s first start for the Gialorossi since September 1, having been out of action for over 3 months.
Paulo de Rossi also gave Evan Ndicka his first after AFCON and returned to the 3-5-2 formation.
The visitors came into the tie on the back of a 2-0 loss to fellow Roma-based side SS Lazi on Thursday, making it two defeats on the bounce.
Roma got the first real opportunity within ten minutes from a counter that began with a move from Sardar Azmoun. The Iranian went on the counter and generously rolled across for the unmarked Rasmus Kristensen, who thumped the upright of an open goal when he was undisturbed.
Torino responded with a shot from Antonio Sanabria, which went wide from a free kick and saw a shot deflected off Smalling.
After losing Matteo Lovato to a left calf strain early on, the Granata remained dangerous on the counter-attack. Raoul Bellanova stood up a cross to the back post for the Samuele Ricci half-volley onto the side-netting.
Roma were eventually rewarded with a penalty as substitute defender Saba Sazonov was late on Azmoun and trod on his foot just inside the box.
Dybala opened his goalscoring account of the match when he converted by sending Vanja Milinkovic-Savic the wrong way to put Roma in front.
Within two minutes, Toro responded and deservedly got an equaliser through Duvan Zapata.
Bellanova, through another cross from the right, met Zapata’s hea, and it bounced just in front of Mile Svilar to nestle into the far bottom corner.
The visitors almost went into the break with a lead, but Svilar got down to beat away the Nikola Vlasic scorcher from a distance.
Torino continued from where they stopped in the second half, testing Svilar through Valentin Lazaro at the base of the near post, while Gianluca Mancini failed to keep the header down on an Angelino cross.
Roma would restore their advantage with a sensational strike from Dybala. La Joya was a good 25 metres out when he curled a left-foot strike that dipped viciously into the bottom corner beyond Milinkovic-Savic for what could be the goal of the week contender.
Dybala then completed his hattrick after completing a double give-and-go with substitute Romelu Lukaku to burst down the left and beat Milinkovic-Savic from the tightest of angles with his left foot.
Vlasic tested Svilar again with a straight shot while Dybala tried to set up Edoardo Bove for a tap-in, denied by the Sazonov interception.
The visitors eventually reduced the deficit when Dean Huijsen accidentally prodded a Ricci pull-back from the by-line into his net from point-blank range.
Roma held on to the maximum as the game went into an intense finale.
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