Torino dominated, had two goals ruled out and numerous saves made, fell behind to a bicycle kick from Mattia Destro, and then defeated Empoli with a stomach-based equalizer from Sasa Lukic.
Torino’s treatment room was finally empty despite the team’s three consecutive losses and the suspension of coach Ivan Juric. After losing to Milan in overtime, Empoli was without Ardian Ismajli, Alberto Grassi, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, and Lorenzo Tonelli.
Within 43 seconds, Ola Aina forced Guglielmo Vicario to make a low save. Soon after, Nikola Vlasic and Valentino Lazaro each fired shots across the goal face.
After a VAR on-field review, Antonio Sanabria’s straight red card for what appeared to be a stamp on Nicol Cambiaghi was changed to a yellow, which was a much more appropriate punishment.
Nikola Vlasic’s shot from the edge of the box was brilliantly saved by Vicario with his fingertip, pushing it off the line and around the post.
Vlasic’s diving header from six yards on an Ola Aina cross struck the upright, and Vicario followed up the Sasa Lukic follow-up at the other post as the move continued.
A deflected shot forced Vicario to make another impressive save, but as the action continued, Ola Aina’s cross provided the assist for Aleksei Miranchuk’s goal-scoring header. Due to the earlier Sanabria offside position, it was not permitted.
On the cusp of halftime, Sanabria had the ball in the net himself with a dink over the goalkeeper, but once again he had started his run too early and was offside. Ola Aina scorched Vicario’s gloves with a long-range shot, but somehow there was no goal at the break.
The addition of Mattia Destro and Marko Pjaca had an immediate impact as Empoli shocked the field with a bicycle kick from Destro that traveled 12 yards into the near bottom corner. The veteran’s goal was his first in eight months and came completely against the flow of play.
Ola Aina’s header from Lazaro’s cross scraped paint off the upright, and then Empoli had the ball in the net once more with a Destro glancing header on a free kick, but this time he was offside.
Sebastiano Luperto blocked a Vlasic shot, and Vlasic, Koffi Djidji, and Nemanja Radonjic all failed to capitalize on their six-yard box headers.
In the waning seconds, Torino finally had some luck on their side when Sebastiano Luperto attempted to clear a cross from Yann Karamoh, but it hit Sasa Lukic in the stomach and ricocheted into the goal from a clear distance.
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