Torino 1 : 0 Lazio - Torino boost survival hopes

Posted Sunday, March 17, 2013 by PA

Torino put further daylight between themselves and the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over a Lazio side whose hopes of securing Champions League football next season are looking increasingly faint.

In a match played in snowy conditions at the Stadio Olimpico, Torino took advantage of the 16th-minute dismissal of Lazio defender Michael Ciani to claim all three points thanks to Jonathas' winner 12 minutes from time.

The result lifts Torino up to 12th, now 10 points above the bottom three, while Lazio slip to seventh after suffering a sixth defeat in eight league matches - a miserable run that has left them seven points adrift of the Champions League spots.

Lazio have at least managed to do well in Europe recently, with Thursday's 3-1 triumph over Stuttgart earning them a 5-1 aggregate triumph and a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, and they showed a glimpse of that form early in this match when Loris Cana sent a 10th-minute header crashing against the post.

That hinted at better times ahead for the Rome club, but their hopes of claiming only a second league win since mid-January were badly hit six minutes later when Ciani was shown his second yellow card for a foul on Paulo Barreto.

That allowed Torino to come into the match after a quiet opening and the hosts looked the more likely scorers in the remainder of the first half with Guillermo Rodriguez, Mario Santana and Riccardo Meggiorini all trying their luck.

Lazio were not without their chances either though, and Libor Kozak was denied by Jean Francois Gillet before the break while the Czech Republic international fired another chance wide five minutes into the second half.

Lazio midfielder Antonio Candreva then found himself involved at both ends of the pitch, first firing an attempt over from outside the box before then almost turning Danilo D'Ambrosio's left-wing cross into his own net with 15 minutes to go.

Federico Marchetti came to his team-mate's rescue on that occasion but the Lazio goalkeeper was left helpless three minutes later as Torino grabbed the winning goal when Jonathas slotted home from close range following a corner from Italy new boy Alessio Cerci.