Tammy Abraham’s goal against the run of play allowed Roma to take three points, while there was VAR drama around a penalty, but Torino dominated possession and lost Andrea Belotti to injury.
The Giallorossi were still without Bryan Cristante and Gonzalo Villar due to COVID, with Leonardo Spinazzola injured and Matias Vina not at 100 per cent, but also Jordan Veretout suspended. Lorenzo Pellegrini therefore moved to midfield, while Toro missed Cristian Ansaldi, Simone Verdi, Ricardo Rodriguez, Rolando Mandragora and Simone Edera.
Dennis Praet tested Rui Patricio from distance, but Pellegrini limped off with a thigh problem after just 15 minutes.
Praet’s diving header on a Wilfried Singo cross was straight at the goalkeeper, while Tommaso Pobega blasted over from the edge of the box and Torino dominated possession early doors.
Rui Patricio and Tammy Abraham combined to block Alessandro Buongiorno from six yards on a corner.
Despite barely having any possession or chances, Roma broke the deadlock out of nowhere, Abraham gathering Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s through ball and turning quickly to pass it into the far bottom corner with the inside of the right boot from just inside the box.
Moments later, Buongiorno mistimed his tackle and brought down Stephan El Shaarawy in the box for a clear penalty. However, it took over five minutes for VAR to check a potential issue in the build-up, with players waiting on the spot and increasingly frustrated, before news came through that Abraham was offside.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic’s first save was on the stroke of half-time, fingertipping an Abraham header over from a corner.
Torino resumed dominating possession and taking the initiative, Bremer’s shot charged down in the box and Brekalo tested Rui Patricio from distance.
The goalkeeper rushed off his line to block Praet on a through ball, but Toro saw Belotti pull up mid-run with a suspected hamstring strain and he had to be carried off the pitch.
Nicolò Zaniolo fired over from a tricky angle when sent through by El Shaarawy, but Roma largely held on for all three points despite having 32 per cent of possession on home turf. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic even went up for a late free kick.
Roma 1-0 Torino
Abraham 32 (R)