Torino 1-0 Napoli: Glik damages Benitez's Champions League assault

The Polish centre-back was on the mark midway through the second period to foil the Azzurri in their bid to go level with Roma

Torino foiled Napoli’s bid to go joint-second in Serie A with a 1-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday thanks to Kamil Glik’s second-half goal.

The Granata captain headed home from a left-wing corner midway through the second period to rock the Champions League challenge of Rafael Benitez’s side, who now face a concerted challenge for third place after wins earlier in the day for Lazio and Fiorentina.

Torino pressed well in the early moments, but Josef Martinez blazed one glorious effort from a Bruno Peres cross into the crowd. An extravagant overhead kick by Fabio Quagliarella from another Peres centre was then parried away by Mariano Andujar with the referee simultaneously calling a halt for a foul by the former Napoli front man on Christian Maggio.

The best the visitors had to show for their possession before the break were a couple of long-range speculators from Jonathan de Guzman and Marek Hamsik, and things got no better for them after the interval with Jose Callejon hammering a volley well wide of goal from a half-cleared free-kick.

And while Benitez looked to inject positivity into his side by bringing on Manolo Gabbiadini for skipper Marek Hamsik, his side soon got caught out at the back.

Kalidou Koulibaly unnecessarily screwed a clearance from midway all the way back for a corner, and from the resulting set-piece Glik stooped to steer a header beyond the flat-footed Andujar for his fifth goal of the season.

Gonzalo Higuain could have equalised soon after from a left-wing cross but fired well over, and Gabbiadini then curled a wonderful free-kick effort onto the base of the post.

The Neapolitans then laid siege to the home side’s goal but could find no way through, meaning they head into next Sunday’s clash with Inter with only a two-point advantage over fourth-placed Lazio. Torino, meanwhile, move ahead of Inter, Milan and Palermo into eighth spot.

Comments

How to make any workout feel easier

How you feel during training is not always a reflection of how fit you are. If you know just how to manage it and use a variety of mental tricks you don’t just get to feel better than you would otherwise, you will be performing better, doing more and work out harder. Fitness is, mostly, inside your head. It’s first of all a mental battle you need to win in order to make yourself train, make yourself train on the level you need to, and then to continue doing it time and time again. Once you do get yourself to exercise, there are a few tricks you can use to make the whole process easier on yourself: Don’t think about how hard it is. We often concentrate too much on how difficult and challenging training is, magnifying it in our head, all the while struggling more and more with the load. The more you think about yourself not being able to cope, the harder it feels. Essentially this is the pre-game pep-talk technique, applied to your training routine: Keep telling yourself that what you ar...

10 Best Spring and Summer Workouts

Though statistically we fail miserably at keeping our New Year’s Resolutions to get fit, there’s still hope around springtime. Study’s show that when you begin a few months after January, you’re not only more likely to keep your fitness goals, but it’s also easier to get motivated (due to better weather and the thought of fitting into a bathing suit during the warmer weather, I suppose). This year, there are some very intriguing exercises that are perfect for getting uber-fit and toned with stronger and leaner muscles. The theme of this year’s best fitness workouts are based on one word, “FUN!” No one wants to do boring workouts anymore. People want something that will be fun and that keeps you motivated to go back and do it again and again. These 10 workouts for spring and summer are just that – super fun, electrifying, challenging and will whip your body into shape in no time flat. 1. AntiGravity Fitness Possibly the most visually mesmerizing form of exercise is AntiGravity. Think Ci...

Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

Pre and post workout nutrition is simple: one is fuel and the other one is repair. You eat before your workout to have the extra energy to push yourself during a training session. You eat afterwards to repair the damage done to your muscles, help them rebuild faster and grow. Depending on your goals, you can do either or both, or you can ignore it altogether. The before and after meals are there to aid you do all of the above. They’re not something you need if all you are trying to do is lose weight. Your body has two fuel tanks: primary and secondary. Your primary fuel tank is the energy stored from your previous meal (glycogen stores) and the secondary fuel tank are your fat reserves (fat stored in fat cells). Unless the primary fuel tank is empty, your body will not access the secondary energy supply = your fat cells. So if your goal is to lose weight and/or streamline, you really want is to make sure you empty your glycogen stores first so you can access the fat stores. Weight loss...

Fit

Search This Blog