Finally, after 20 years, Torino defeated rivals Juventus in what was a memorable afternoon for Giampiero Ventura’s side.
Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring with a sublime free kick before Matteo Darmian levelled just before the interval, lashing home from close range after a superb first touch.
The comeback was complete on 57 minutes when former Juventus player Fabio Quagliarella made no mistake from close range, sending the home fans into delirium.
The match was marred by crowd violence between both sets fans as missiles and explosives were thrown, resulting in 10 Torino fans receiving injuries.
A vital three points for Toro, who now close the gap on fifth-placed Sampdoria to just three points after the latter and sixth-placed Fiorentina both suffered defeats as the race for Europa League spots tightens up.
Despite the rare slip up, Juve still sit a commanding 14 points ahead of second-placed Lazio and are still very much the champions-elect.
No shortage of suitors for Matteo Darmian
The 25-year-old has made huge strides since joining Torino on loan under a complicated co-ownership agreement between Palermo and Milan back in 2011.
The 2013/14 season was a breakout one for Darmian, awarded the Serie A ‘right-back of the year’ award, which was followed by selection in Italy’s World Cup squad.
He started in all three of the Azzurri‘s group stage matches and was the shining light in an otherwise forgettable tournament taking out the Pallone Azzuro award as the country’s best player.
Darmian has made the right-back position his own and the confidence from his performances at the World Cup has filtered through to this season.
Just recently, he has been linked to Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich and his outstanding display at the weekend will make it extremely difficult for Torino to keep hold of him.
The standout performer on the day, not only scoring, but setting up Quagliarella for the decisive goal.
Juventus fringe players fail to seize chance
After the energy-sapping match against Monaco, it was predicted that Massimo Allegri would rotate his squad and he obliged, handing rare starts to Alessandro Matri, Stefano Sturaro and Simeone Padoin.
The trio were all anonymous throughout the match in what served as a terrific opportunity to impress.
Matri had a glorious chance to equalise, only for his outstretched effort to hit the post while Sturaro and Padoin looked off the pace as the game passed them by.
It leaves Allegri with some straight-forward selection decisions for the midweek match against Fiorentina.
Torino in the box seat to claim final Europa League spot
Toro have had a difficult run of the fixtures recently, but their run in is a favourable one, playing teams all in the bottom half of the table.
With a log jam now forming for that final Europa League place, each game from now until the end of the season will be crucial. One slip up could mean falling south towards mid table.
After defeating Napoli and Juventus and earning a point against Roma, the Granata will want to avoid undoing their good work by dropping points against lowly opposition.
Andrea Pirlo – The gift that keeps on giving
Like a fine wine, Pirlo keeps getting better with age as he adds another gorgeous free kick to his already extensive highlights reel.
With his contract set to expire at season’s end, Juve would be crazy not to re-sign the 35-year-old as his performances have shown no signs of declining.
The standout for the Bianconeri was orchestrating proceedings in midfield, hitting the post with another sumptuous free kick and providing a peach of a cross for Sturaro, only for his header to be well saved from Torino shot stopper Daniele Padelli, denying Juve the equaliser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIrC2s5dw8
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