Torino delivered a ruthless away performance, dismantling Hellas Verona 3-0 with clinical counter-attacking football as Giovanni Simeone capitalised on an early mistake before Cesare Casadei and Alieu Njie sealed the win.
Verona had climbed off the bottom of the table with surprise wins over Atalanta and Fiorentina, but a heavy defeat to Milan late in 2025 had already halted their momentum.
They were further weakened by the AFCON absence of Rafik Belghali and injuries to Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro and Tomas Suslov, although Martin Frese returned from suspension.
Torino also arrived short-handed, missing Ivan Ilic, Perr Schuurs and Zanos Savva, while flu ruled out Cyril Ngonge and Niels Nkounkou, and Adam Masina was away on international duty.
Saul Coco, however, returned after Equatorial Guinea’s early AFCON exit, while Kristjan Asllani started on the bench amid reports his Inter loan may be cut short.
The visitors wasted no time asserting themselves. Che Adams dragged a loose-ball effort wide inside the opening 10 seconds, but the breakthrough soon followed.
A sloppy back-pass from Adrian Bernede gifted Simeone a clear run on goal, and the striker calmly slipped the ball past Lorenzo Montipò, later raising a hand in apology to his former club.
Verona nearly hit back when Saul Coco blocked Giovane’s inviting pull-back, yet Torino remained dangerous on the break.
Montipò was forced into a flying fingertip save to deny Valentin Lazaro’s fierce long-range effort, while Gvidas Gineitis flashed a teasing ball across the six-yard box that nobody could convert.
After the restart, Verona pushed men forward and made changes, but that ambition left space behind. Simeone and Adams both saw attempts blocked, while Frese and Daniel Mosquera narrowly missed connecting with a dangerous Giovane delivery.
Gift Orban and Adrien Tameze also went close, the latter’s effort deflected inches wide by Victor Nelsson.
Torino’s second goal eventually arrived and effectively killed the contest. Lazaro launched the move deep in his own half, Casadei exchanged passes with Njie down the left, then swept a composed finish into the far corner from the edge of the area.
The icing on the cake came late on when Njie raced onto a long ball over the top from Ardian Ismajli and thundered an unstoppable strike into the roof of the net, celebrating acrobatically as Torino completed a dominant night in Verona.
