Torino survives late scare to beat Monza 3-2

Torino walked away with a result that ended up far tenser than the final score suggests: 3-2 over Monza at the Olimpico Grande Torino, with an own goal in the 93rd minute keeping things uncomfortable right to the final whistle. For much of the second half, Ignazio Abate's side looked to have the match comfortably in hand with a two-goal cushion, but Ivan Juric's Monza refused to go down without a fight.

The match opened with Torino dictating the pace until, in the 38th minute, Kian Fitz-Jim curled a left-footed finish into the top corner from the center of the box, set up by Giovanni Simeone, to make it 1-0. It looked like the home side would head into the break with a comfortable lead, but Monza answered right away: just after the restart, in the 46th minute, Gustavo Varela leveled things with a low right-footed strike by the post, making it 1-1 before Torino had much chance to catch its breath.

Far from rattled, Torino hit back quickly. In the 60th minute, Rafik Belghali fired home a right-footed effort from outside the box, assisted by Gvidas Gineitis, for 2-1. Eleven minutes later, Nikola Vlasic finished from the center of the area to make it 3-1, a goal that appeared to put the match away. Monza, though, had the final say in the closing stretch: deep into stoppage time, in the 93rd minute, an own goal by Nathan Patterson made it a final 3-2 and forced Torino to see out the closing minutes with some nerves.

The numbers behind the match

Torino was the better side in terms of overall play, holding more possession and, above all, generating far more danger in front of goal.

That gap in shots is mirrored in the post-match xG numbers: Torino produced 1.44 expected goals compared to Monza's 0.51, a figure that confirms the home side dominated the clearest chances, even if the final result ended up tighter than those numbers would suggest.

Before kickoff, our projection gave Torino a 46% chance of winning, against 26% for Monza and 28% for a draw, with total expected goals set at 2.70. The final result, with five goals on the board, exceeded that scoring expectation, though the outcome itself, a Torino win, was the scenario we considered most likely.

What it means in the standings

With this result, Torino moved to 13 points from eight matches played, with four wins, one draw and three losses, sitting in eighth place. Monza, meanwhile, stayed at 7 points after eight outings, with two wins, one draw and five losses, in 14th place. The gap between the two sides in the table now stands at 6 points, a reflection of the very different campaigns both clubs are having so far in Serie A.

For Torino, the win comes with a warning sign attached: letting a 3-1 lead slip almost to the final whistle is something Abate will surely want to address. For Monza, Varela's goal and the late response, even though they weren't enough to get a result, show a team that doesn't give up even when the scoreline looks settled.