Torino's bench sparks comeback as Abate's substitutes sink Udinese 2-1

Torino needed a statement result at home, and found it through its substitutes. At the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Ignazio Abate's side came out on top 2-1 against Kosta Runjaic's Udinese, in a match settled by a Sandro Kulenovic goal in the 66th minute, just three minutes after the forward had come on from the bench.

The first to strike was Daniel Bragança, who in the 35th minute poked the ball home with his left foot from close range, next to the left post, following a corner kick, right after Che Adams had rattled the right post with a shot on the same play. Torino took the lead in one of its few clear chances of the first half. Udinese's response was quick: in the 42nd minute, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp equalized with a left-footed strike from inside the left side of the box that finished next to the right post of the home goal, a goal that needed a VAR review before being confirmed. The score was 1-1 at halftime.

In the second half, Torino moved quickly on the bench, bringing on Nikola Vlasic and Emirhan Ilkhan at the break for Oristanio and Bragança, and shortly after, Kulenovic for Che Adams. That substitution proved decisive. In the 66th minute, Kulenovic finished with his right foot from the center of the box, low and next to the left post, to make it 2-1, a scoreline that would hold until the final whistle. Kulenovic himself came close again soon after, in the 72nd minute, with a shot that grazed the right corner of the crossbar, and Udinese pushed for an equalizer until the end with attempts from Ekkelenkamp, Chakvetadze and Keinan Davis, but could not beat the home goalkeeper again.

What the numbers say

The stats tell an unusual story: Udinese controlled the ball and the territory, but Torino was sharper where it counted.

Udinese nearly doubled Torino's possession and completed far more passes, but managed only one shot on target the entire match, compared to four for the home side. That gap also shows up in the xG estimated after the fact based on shot location: 2.246 for Torino against just 0.738 for Udinese, a difference that confirms Abate's team created far more real danger with far less of the ball.

The result also runs counter to what was projected before kickoff. The pre-match odds gave Torino a 36% chance of winning, Udinese 34%, and a draw 30%, with expected goals fairly evenly split (1.26 for the home side and 1.23 for the visitors, 2.49 combined). The final score ended up tilting more clearly toward Torino than those numbers suggested.

What it means in the standings

In the Serie A table, Torino moves to 7 points from 6 games played (2 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses), while Udinese sits on 4 points from the same 6 games (1 win, 1 draw, 4 losses). The gap between the two sides in the standings is 3 points. These are positions that, at this early stage of the season, with just six rounds played, still say little about the real level of either squad, but the win gives Torino immediate relief and leaves Udinese needing to respond as soon as possible.