Torino beat Monza 3-2 in a five-goal thriller at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino on Friday night, as Rafik Belghali curled in a stunning winner in all but name and Nikola Vlasic sealed a win that spoiled Ivan Juric's return to Turin.
Kian Fitz-Jim gave the hosts a half-time lead, Gustavo Varela levelled two minutes after the restart, and then Torino turned the screw. Belghali skipped past two defenders and bent a superb strike into the bottom corner on 61 minutes, Vlasic fired in a third 11 minutes later, and only a stoppage-time own goal from Nathan Patterson made the closing seconds nervous.
Fitz-Jim strikes, Varela answers
Torino controlled the first half without quite killing the game. Fitz-Jim broke the deadlock on 39 minutes, finishing a move created by Giovanni Simeone, and Ignazio Abate's side went in 1-0 up and good value for it.
Monza, back in Turin with former Torino boss Juric in the dugout, needed just two minutes of the second half to respond. Varela pounced on a defensive mistake and rolled a low finish into the bottom corner, and for a spell the visitors believed.
Torino lost Rolando Mandragora to injury shortly afterwards, but the response was emphatic. Noel Tornqvist kept Monza alive with saves from Belghali, Simeone and Pietro Comuzzo, while at the other end Lucas Perri denied Jay Robinson and a Ricardo Mangas header. As Football Italia reported, there was nothing any goalkeeper could do about what came next.
Belghali's moment of magic
On 61 minutes Belghali collected the ball, skipped past two defenders and curled a strike from outside the area into the bottom corner — the goal of the night and a moment that underlined why Torino moved for the Algerian wing-back this season. Gvidas Gineitis provided the assist, but the goal belonged entirely to Belghali.
Vlasic settled it on 72 minutes, firing a loose ball high into the net from the edge of the area. Che Adams had already forced another stop from Tornqvist with a long-range drive, and Michael Folorunsho went close late on for Monza, but the points looked safe until Patterson turned the ball into his own net in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Monza then had penalty appeals waved away when Mangas went down in the box, and Torino held on.
The numbers backed the hosts: 17 shots to seven, seven on target to three, and a performance that lifts Torino from tenth to seventh on 13 points. It was the kind of open, chaotic Serie A night that also produced Milan's 3-2 win over Atalanta earlier this month.
So what it means
Torino, now seventh, host Como on Tuesday with momentum and a new hero — Belghali's form will also interest Algeria watchers, on a weekend when Inter are counting their own injury costs at the top of the table. Monza stay 14th on seven points and Juric's return ended in frustration; his side host Napoli on Wednesday, a fixture that will test whether this performance, if not the result, can become a turning point.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Torino are becoming Serie A's entertainers, but Belghali is the real story — a wing-back who can decide a five-goal game with one curl of his boot is a player the big clubs will soon be circling. Juric, meanwhile, learned that sentiment counts for nothing in Turin: his old club were ruthless, and Monza's season will be defined by whether they can defend as well as they fight. Can Belghali keep this form up and earn a January move, or should Torino build around him? Let us know in the comments.
