Torino fought back from a half-time deficit to stun AC Milan and compound the Rossoneri’s miserable start to the season thanks to a surprise 2-1 win.
The visitors had been the better side for larger spells of the game and looked much more creative and brighter in attack than they had in recent games, a big criticism that had been levelled at them.
But despite now managing to create openings, this time they were wasteful with them and the stat sheet will show that yet again, they failed to manage a goal from an open play, with the strike coming via the penalty spot.
Hakan Calhanoglu came close to an opener with an early free-kick that just missed the target before Milan were given a gift of an opening when Rafael Leao went down in the area under a challenge from Lorenzo De Silvestri.
Krzystof Piatek dispatched the kick in ruthless fashion to put his side into a lead that was almost doubled only for Salvatore Sirigu to somehow pluck a Leao header away from danger from under the bar.
About all Torino could muster in response was an effort in injury time of the opening half which Andrea Belotti really should have scored after Gianluigi Donnarumma inexplicably allowed him an open goal with a bizarre sideways run.
The Toro captain snatched at the attempt though and fired over to send the sides in at the break with Marco Giampaolo’s men in control, while some well-timed defensive blocks kept the Granata at bay after the interval.
Piatek was guilty of spurning two big openings at the other end, first trying to pick out Calhanoglu rather than the unmarked Leao for an easy finish and then curling just wide when in space.
They were punished badly for those misses when Belotti grabbed the bull by the horns, pun very much intended, and turned the game on its head in the closing stages to make up for that first half miss.
His first arrived via a helping hand from Donnarumma, who followed up his impressive derby display with an erratic showing here, and whether Belotti’s early strike from the edge of the area may have surprised him, he still should have kept it out.
You could perhaps fault him too for the winner which arrived shortly afterwards when a Simone Zaza strike was parried into the path of the Toro captain inside the six-yard box.
His initial effort was a poor one as he snatched at the attempt with an open goal gaping in front of him and knocked the ball behind him but recovered sensationally with a quickfire overhead kick for a finish as surprising as it was stylish.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com