Torino left Parma with more than three points on a Monday night: they left with the sense of a side beginning to find its place in the season. A 3-0 victory at the Tardini took Ignazio Abate’s team to 10 points, alongside Napoli and only one behind Juventus, while Parma’s home crowd turned its frustration towards the club as Alberto Gilardino’s side faded after a brief second-half response.
The coach and the club
Abate’s Torino combined authority before the interval with resilience after it. The Granata began with a compact five-man defensive line and adapted into a more flexible 4-4-2 when they had the ball, giving Parma little time to settle and repeatedly finding room down the flanks.
Giovanni Simeone set the tone after five minutes. Belghali drove forward on the right and delivered towards the far post, where the Argentine finished to give Torino an early lead and register his first league goal of the campaign.
Parma’s defending invited further pressure. Their central defenders were pulled out of position, while Torino continued to progress through the wide areas. Comuzzo went close from a Mandragora free-kick before the second goal arrived in the 23rd minute.
Simeone’s effort in the box was deflected by Diego Carlos and Che Adams reacted quickest, heading home from close range. The goal was checked by VAR before being confirmed, with the Scottish forward judged to have been in a legal position. Torino’s advantage reflected a first half in which Parma had offered little beyond a Romero attempt that Vanja Milinković-Savić’s replacement, Perri, saved well.
- Simeone gave Torino the lead in the fifth minute after Belghali’s cross from the right.
- Adams made it 2-0 in the 23rd minute following a VAR review.
- Gilardino changed Parma at half-time, introducing Lontani and Drobnic for Fabbian and Diego Carlos.
- Simeone completed the win with a long-range strike after Torino had absorbed Parma’s best spell.
Gilardino’s interval substitutions initially changed the rhythm. Parma spent the opening minutes of the second half around Torino’s penalty area: El Bilal Touré headed narrowly wide, Lontani curled an attempt just off target, Bernabé tested Perri from distance and Troilo headed directly at the goalkeeper.
It was, however, a burst rather than a turning point. Torino regained control after the first quarter-hour of the half, helped by Abate’s changes. Aboukhlal and Casadei replaced Belghali and Vlašić, while Kulenović and Gineitis later came on for Adams and Mandragora. Duván Zapata replaced Simeone for the closing stages.
The defining moment came when Simeone received the ball around 20 metres from goal, lifted his head and sent a powerful right-footed effort into the top corner. Corvi reached full stretch but could not touch it. It was the second goal of the evening for Simeone and the clearest expression of Torino’s superiority.
Parma made further changes, bringing on Frigan and Diallo for Touré and Britschgi, while Ordoñez replaced Bernabé. Diallo did create an opening from the right and Frigan turned his low shot into the net, but the move was ruled out for offside after referee Giovanni Ayroldi was called to the monitor.
There were disciplinary moments on both sides. Diego Carlos was booked after catching Simeone in the face, Ismajli received a yellow card for stopping Romero on the counter-attack, and a Parma defender was cautioned after an accidental but forceful kick to Gineitis’s face. Ayroldi also booked a Torino player for simulation inside the Granata area.
A difficult night for Parma
Parma had started with Corvi; Troilo, Diego Carlos and Britschgi; Delprato, Keita, Bernabé, Fabbian and Valeri; Romero and Touré. But the structure did not provide the security Gilardino needed, particularly during Torino’s dominant opening half-hour.
Torino’s starting side featured Perri behind Coco, Ismajli and Comuzzo, with Belghali, Vlašić, Mandragora, Bragança and Cacciamani supporting Adams and Simeone. Their early control was built on pace in the wide zones and calmness once Parma finally attempted to force the issue.
As the match slipped away, the Tardini made its mood clear. Home supporters whistled and called for “a club, we want a club”, with president Kyle Krause watching from the stands. By the final whistle, after a brief added minute for treatment to Gineitis, Torino had strengthened a growing upward trajectory while Parma were left carrying a heavy defeat and a wounded atmosphere.
