Torino 1 : 0 Napoli - Glik strike downs Napoli

Posted Monday, March 02, 2015 by PA

Torino rounded off a memorable week for them with a 1-0 win over Napoli which moved them up to eighth in Serie A just days after they reached the last 16 of the Europa League.

Captain Kamil Glik scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half as Torino dented Napoli's hopes of catching Roma in second place.

With Lazio and Fiorentina both winning on Sunday, Napoli must now start to look over their shoulders and hold on to third with just two and three points respectively separating Rafael Benitez's men from their nearest challengers.

Napoli had an easier Europa League evening on Thursday, beating Trabzonspor 1-0 at home after having laid the foundations for their passage with a comfortable win in Turkey whereas Torino triumphed 3-2 in an intense 90 minutes at Athletic Bilbao.

With Napoli therefore having been able to conserve their energy somewhat, it was no surprise that they were quicker out of the blocks with Jonathan De Guzman testing Daniele Padelli early on.

Torino may have been tired, but their morale levels more than made up for it as they played the ball around with confidence, Bruno Peres crossing for Josef Martinez, who shot over from close range.

Fabio Quagliarella's spectacular overhead kick nearly broke the deadlock in the 10th minute before Marek Hamsik tried an equally spectacular volley from 35 yards which only just missed the left-hand post with Padelli stood watching.

Torino started to struggle early in the second half and their coach Giampiero Ventura looked frustrated as his team appeared to be losing their way.

Just then, they earned a corner and Glik stooped to head in his sixth goal of the season, turning the concern to relief.

Napoli reacted with Gonzalo Higuain blazing a shot over from 10 yards in the 75th minute before Manolo Gabbiadini struck the post with a free-kick five minutes later.

Torino belied their tired legs as they kept on running to the very end, holding on to a precious win which comes at the end of the most successful week in their recent history.