Giovanni Simeone struck twice and Che Adams headed in as Torino spoiled Alberto Gilardino's first home game in charge of Parma with a ruthless 3-0 win at the Ennio Tardini on Monday night.
It was a scoreline that told only half the story. Parma finished with 25 shots to Torino's nine and eight efforts on target to three, yet every Torino shot on target went in — and Parma, still on four points and 19th in Serie A, were left to wonder how a night of pressure ended in a heavy defeat.
Torino strike early and strike again
Torino made a fast start, as reported by Football Italia. Che Adams had a volley blocked inside the opening minute and Saul Coco headed off target from the resulting corner, before the visitors went ahead on four minutes — Rafik Belghali lofted a cross into the box and Simeone met it with a left-footed finish into the top corner.
Parma defender Pietro Comuzzo headed wide from close range, and Torino doubled their lead on 24 minutes. Simeone's shot was blocked and Adams reacted first to nod home the rebound, with the goal surviving a VAR check for offside.
Gilardino's side, who went into the game after a 3-0 defeat at Inter and without Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Pontus Almqvist and Elphege — who had surgery for appendicitis — did respond. Lucas Perri made a superb diving save to keep out David Romero, then gathered headers from Diego Carlos and Giovanni Fabbian, while Enrico Delprato steered wide from inside the six-yard box just before the break.
Pressure without reward, then Simeone settles it
Gilardino, who had brought Adrian Bernabe back into midfield, made a double change at half-time, introducing Dominik Drobnic and Simone Lontani. El Bilal Toure headed narrowly wide, Lontani fired over, and Perri saved again from Bernabe and Mariano Troilo.
Romero curled just past the far post, but Torino put the game to bed on 69 minutes. Simeone collected Belghali's headed pass — a second assist of the night for the wing-back — and unleashed a fierce strike from distance into the top corner.
Substitute Matija Frigan thought he had pulled one back from Djibril Diallo's pass, but VAR ruled it out for offside, and Perri comfortably held another Frigan effort late on to preserve his clean sheet.
Torino coach Ignazio Abate praised Simeone as a quiet leader after the striker ended a run without scoring, and said his side had produced a half hour of high-level football before defending their lead with discipline. Gilardino, by contrast, accepted responsibility for a poor start and said his players had looked scared.
So what happens next?
Back-to-back wins lift Torino from 14th to 10th on 10 points, and Abate's switch to a two-striker system — Simeone and Adams together — is paying off in the most direct way possible: goals. Torino host Monza on Friday looking to make it three in a row.
For Parma the picture is starkly different. They sit 19th on four points from seven games and travel to Lazio on Saturday — the same side who thrashed Juventus 3-0 on Sunday, on a weekend when Milan also won a five-goal thriller. Gilardino's first home game was meant to be a reset; instead it underlined how much work his side need at both ends, converting pressure into goals and cutting out the early concessions that left them chasing this game from the fourth minute.
Beyond the Final Whistle: This was a lesson in efficiency beating volume. Parma did much of what a struggling side is asked to do — they ran, they pressed, they created 25 shots — and still lost 3-0, because Torino had the two things Parma lack right now: a finisher in form and a goalkeeper in command. Simeone's brace will grab the headlines, but Perri's clean sheet on a night Parma had eight shots on target is just as telling. Gilardino does not have a creativity problem; he has a ruthlessness problem, and those are far harder to fix in a relegation fight.
Was this a turning point for Torino, or are Parma simply in deep trouble? Let us know what you think in the comments.
