Torino-Salernitana 0-0, a draw without goals and excitement at the Olimpico

Turin, 4 February 2024 – The "lunch match" of the twenty-third matchday of Serie A, all in garnet colours, between Turin landlord and Salernitana. A point each, which effectively dissatisfied both teams and which comes at the end of a match in which, in addition to the goals, emotions were lacking. From the first 45 minutes, Toro tried to take the initiative with ball possession which, however, proved to be too sterile, given that at the end of the first half neither team managed to finish on target. To see the first shot on goal we had to wait for the whipping of counterattack by Linetty, in the 67th minute, while the plays of Ricci and Masina ended up out of proportion, even if by a hair's breadth, as they did not punish a Salernitana team who produced the first and only opportunity of their match in the 81st minute with Boulaye Dia chew he warmed Milinkovic-Savic's gloves. A too isolated flash, which was not enough to interrupt the territorial dominance of Torino who until the end tried - without success - to break the deadlock, coming close to scoring with headers from Pellegri and Zapata. 

The choices of Juric and Inzaghi

The absence of Buongiorno pushes Juric – who doesn't give up 3-4-2-1 – to line up the Georgian Sazonov in the center of the back pack, ahead of Milinkovic-Savic, who forms a unit together with Tameze and Rodriguez. The external lanes are instead occupied by Rodriguez and Lazaro, with Ricci and Linetty who, as usual, man the median. Vlasic is in the attacking midfield to support the attacking duo of Zapata and Sanabria. Mirror module for Salernitana by Filippo Inzaghi who chooses Ochoa between the posts and deploys a new defense trio, made up of the newly arrived Pierozzi, Jerome Boateng and Pasalidis. Zanoli and Bradaric are instead the wingers of a midfield completed by the central players Maggiore and Basic. Closing the Campania team are Candreva and Kastanos, who act in the attacking midfield, behind the striker Tchaouna, preferred to the returning Dia.

First half

From the start of the match, the hosts took control of the game: Torino, despite risking something too much on an incorrect disengagement by Sazonov – who appeared lackluster and precise in the first half – attacks with a dense phrasing and puts a lot of pressure on Salernitana's ball carriers, who struggle in the defensive phase in the face of the many men often brought into the area by the Piedmontese, but still manage to cover themselves keeping a careful watch with the work of Pierozzi and Boateng. The maneuver of the visiting grenade is persistent and keeps Salernitana holed up in their own half for a long time, but lacks rhythm and consequently opportunities and emotions are lacking, also because the game is broken up by Chiffi's many whistles. The game thus flows smoothly until the 40th minute, when Rodriguez, after a sprint in coverage, is forced to raise the white flag due to a muscle problem and give way to the newly arrived Masina, who presents himself with a good tackle to stop a potentially Kastanos initiative. Even in the final half of the opening 49', Toro dictated the pace, without however managing to create any scoring opportunities, so much so that Chiffi's double whistle brought the curtain down on a first half in which neither Torino nor Salernitana made any shots. in the mirror of the opponent's goal. 

Second half

At the start of the second half, the Campanians try to raise their heads and be seen in the area Milinkovic-Savic with long-range conclusions from Basic and Candreva, which however ended up clearly out of range without creating any particular problems for the Serbian goalkeeper. Salernitana's feeble flame was effectively extinguished in the bud, because Toro managed to soon regain control of the game and created, in the 58th minute, the first opportunity of the match with Ricci who headed the ball away and gave the illusion of goal by sending the ball just a hair's breadth to the outside of the net. He arrives in the 61st minute instead the moment of edeaf with the Salernitana shirt Marco Pellegrino, who takes over from a more than positive Boateng. Inzaghi, to try to give more vigor to his team, also throws Dia into the fray, in place of Tchauna. Juric responds by increasing the weight of the Torino attack with Pellegri's graft in place of Vlasic and Djidji in place of Tameze. At the end of the round of substitutions, the match seems to be timidly heating up and Toro, after having created a good opportunity with Masina's whip from the edge, which went out for a few centimeters, tries again - following the development of yet another corner - with the right counterattack from Linetty, who for the first time in the match forces Ochoa into overtime. The shoulder injury suffered by the new arrival Pasalidis further disrupts the plans of a Salernitana team already in emergency defense and leads Inzaghi to play the Sambia card. However, it was Dia who scored, with only 10 minutes to go, Campania's first scoring opportunity with a nice right-footed turn, neutralized by the promptness of Milinkovic-Savic. A flash in the dark, because even the final is Toro's prerogative, who in full recovery raises the engine revs and comes close to scoring with headers first from Pellegri and then from Zapata, which go out at the back, exhausting the hopes of victory for the hosts. 

The little table

Turin (3-4-1-2): Milinkovic-Savic; Tameze (Djidji from 64'), Sazonov (Lovato from 80), Rodriguez (Masina from 41'); Bellanova, Ricci (from 80' Ilic), Linetty, Lazaro; Vlasic (from 64' Pellegri); Zapata, Sanabria. All. Juric

Salernitana (3-4-2-1): Ochoa; Pierozzi, Boateng (from 61' Pellegrino), Pasalidis (from 72' Sambia); Zanoli, Maggiore, Basic, Bradaric; Candreva, Kastanos (from 87' Vignato); Tchaouna (from 61' Dia). All. F. Inzaghi

Referee: Daniele Chiffi of the Padua section

Note - Yellow cards: Sazonov, Pierozzi, Linetty.