Serie A | Empoli 3-2 Torino: Five-goal thriller

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Susy Campanale | Last updated 4/6/24

Torino twice clawed their way back into the game with Duvan Zapata headers, but Empoli won a 3-2 thriller in stoppages thanks to M’Baye Niang.

The Tuscans plunged back into the bottom three after four consecutive defeats, all without finding the net, although the last three were against Milan, Bologna and Inter. Alberto Grassi, Ardian Ismajli, Etrit Berisha and Tyronne Ebuehi were injured, while Toro missed Koffi Djidji, Gvidas Gineitis, Ivan Ilic and Perr Schuurs.

See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.

The hosts opened the scoring when Niccolò Cambiaghi cut inside from the left and unleashed a right-foot rocket from outside the penalty area into the far top corner, bending back Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s fingertips. It was his first goal of the season after 64 attempts.

Antonio Sanabria fired straight at Elia Caprile from close range, but the goalkeeper had to make a fantastic reaction save to claw the Duvan Zapata header away on a corner.

It was only a warning, as Torino did equalise with Duvan Zapata nodding in a Mergim Vojvoda corner, though he had to crouch down to reach it after getting in front of Sebastiano Luperto.

Coach Davide Nicola’s substitutions really paid off, as three of them were involved in the goal to restore their lead. M’Baye Niang started it in midfield, Youssef Maleh spread it down the left, where Matteo Cancellieri smashed the finish across Milinkovic-Savic.

It still wasn’t over, as Duvan Zapata got away from his defender again for the header on a Raoul Bellanova cross from the right at the 91^st minute to once more claw Torino back into the game.

There was time for another twist, as Bellanova was caught napping at the by-line by Liberato Cacace, who pulled it back for Niang to steer in first-time from close range.

Empoli 3-2 Torino

Cambiaghi 7 (E), Zapata 60, 91 (T), Cancellieri 74 (E), Niang 94 (E)

06-04-2024 19:45 MatchDay 31 Stadio Comunale Carlo Castellani

Empoli

Torino 3 - 2

Player statistic

1st half

Nicolò Cambiaghi (Assist: Razvan Marin)		6'
Sebastian Walukiewicz		11'
Alberto Cerri		27'
		39'

Duván Zapata 2nd half

	60'	Duván Zapata (Assist: Mërgim Vojvoda)
Matteo Cancellieri (Assist: Youssef Maleh)	74'
M’Baye Niang (Assist: Liberato Cacace)	90+4'
	90+1'

Duván Zapata (Assist: Raoul Bellanova)

Match statistic

36 Possession % 64 4 Total shots 19 3 Shots on target 5 0 Shots off target 9 1 Blocked shots 5 1 Corners 7 2 Offsides 1 13 Fouls 13 Empoli Torino

Starting lineups

Elia Caprile Goalkeeper 19

Bartosz Bereszynski Defender 3

Giuseppe Pezzella Defender 65' 4

Sebastian Walukiewicz Defender 33

Sebastiano Luperto Defender 18

Razvan Marin Midfielder 30

Simone Bastoni Midfielder 65' 27

Szymon Zurkowski Midfielder 88' 17

Alberto Cerri Attacker 70' 11 Emmanuel Gyasi Attacker 28

Nicolò Cambiaghi Attacker 70' 32

Vanja Milinković-Savić Goalkeeper 4

Alessandro Buongiorno Defender 27

Mërgim Vojvoda Defender 76' 19

Raoul Bellanova Defender 13

Ricardo Rodríguez Defender 83' 61

Adrien Tameze Midfielder 77

Karol Linetty Midfielder 88' 16

Nikola Vlasic Midfielder 28

Samuele Ricci Midfielder

82' 9

Antonio Sanabria Attacker 91

Duván Zapata Attacker

Substitutes

Mattia Destro Attacker 9

Francesco Caputo Attacker 5

Alberto Grassi Midfielder 8

Viktor Kovalenko Midfielder 1

Samuele Perisan Goalkeeper 12 Jacopo Seghetti Goalkeeper 7 Stiven Shpendi Attacker 2 Saba Goglichidze Defender 29 Youssef Maleh Midfielder 65' 13 Liberato Cacace Defender 65' 20 Matteo Cancellieri Attacker 70' 10

M’Baye Niang Attacker 70' 21 Jacopo Fazzini Midfielder 88' 1

Luca Gemello Goalkeeper 15 Saba Sazonov Defender 71 Mihai Popa Goalkeeper Uros Kabic Attacker 79 Zanos Savva Attacker 20

Valentino Lazaro Defender 76' 6

Matteo Lovato Defender 82' 21

David Okereke Attacker 83' 5

Adam Masina Defender

88'

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

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