clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Il Grande Torino: Grazie, Grazie!

Thanks to a goal from Alessio Cerci, Roma are no longer perfect, meaning Napoli and Juventus are now three points out of first. So...thanks?

Claudio Villa

Wave a red flag at a bull and it will charge you down. And that, my friends, is exactly what Torino did to AS Roma on Sunday night. The giallorossi waved their red shirt. Miralem Pjanic pulled back, Kevin Strootman fired and Roma were on their way to their eleventh straight win. Except...no. Toro got angry. And Toro did what no other side has done this season: fought back. Head bowed, nostrils flaring, feet twitching, they charged. Riccardo Meggiorini somehow managed to fight off Mehdi Benatia to keep the ball. The forward pulled back and Alessio Cerci tapped in. Goal!

It was only the second goal Roma have conceded this season. And it's just a draw for the Romans, so it's not the end of their league dominance. But for Napoli, Cerci's goal just might have huge implications.

Roma finally dropping points means Napoli are a mere three points back of first place. Sure, the partenopei have been close all along, but it's never really felt that way, not after losing 2-0 to the giallorossi, and having to watch their perfect start get plastered across every media outlet across the globe. It sure didn't seem like reaching Roma was possible. They'd already been crowned scudetto winners.

But this...this means they're not perfect. This means others just might have a shot. This means the weekend's match against Juventus, already huge, becomes almost unbearably significant. And, oh, both sides have to get through must-win Champions League matches first.

So grazie, Torino -- for making this week even scarier than it was already programmed to be.