Torino fought back from a goal down to flatten nine-man Copenhagen 5-1 in Denmark and reach the Europa League knockouts.
They had in fact been top of the group for a long spell, but Club Brugge snatched a late 2-1 victory over HJK Helsinki.
Torino fought back from a goal down to flatten nine-man Copenhagen 5-1 in Denmark and reach the Europa League knockouts.
They had in fact been top of the group for a long spell, but Club Brugge snatched a late 2-1 victory over HJK Helsinki.
This remained a very tight group, as nobody was sure of qualification yet going into the final game. The Danes knew they could do no better than third, but Toro would certainly go through with a victory and a draw if HJK Helsinki failed to beat Club Brugge. The visitors missed numerous players, including Marco Benassi, Juan Sanchez Mino, Salvatore Masiello, Marcelo Larrondo, Antonio Nocerino and the suspended Cristian Molinaro.
It was the worst possible start for Toro, as within six minutes Daniel Amartey had pounced on a colossal group defensive error. There seemed to be a total lack of communication between Emiliano Moretti and Gaston Silva, then Kamil Glik tried to clean up the mess, but Amartey went sliding in and was aided by a deflection.
Josef Martinez hit a half-volley from the edge of the box that took the goalkeeper by surprise, drawing the Granata level.
It was wide open and very attacking from both sides, as Daniele Padelli flew to palm a Hogli effort out from under the bar.
There was more good news for Toro, as ex-Bologna defender Mikael Antonsson received a straight red card for taking down Martinez as he ran towards goal. It left Copenhagen down to 10 men for an hour.
Martinez nodded a Cesare Bovo corner just wide, then Copenhagen remarkably went down to nine when Mathias Jorgensen hauled back Amauri in the box. The referee considered it a clear scoring opportunity and flashed another red card. Amauri got back on his feet to take the spot-kick, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.
The second half had barely kicked off when Martinez completed his brace to make it 3-1, running on to an Omar El Kaddouri assist to lob Stephan Andersen.
Moments later they bagged a fourth. Andersen did all he could to deny Martinez a hat-trick, but the move continued and Gaston Silva crossed for Mattia Darmian to volley the finish.
The fifth was not long in coming and again El Kaddouri was involved, flicking on a cross that Gaston Silva fired home. This was the first time Torino had scored five goals in a European fixture since crushing Rekjavic in 1991.
Even with nine men, Copenhagen still tested Padelli from distance with Nicolai Jorgensen. It could’ve been more for Toro, but Fabio Quagliarella and Amauri saw attempts saved.
Copenhagen 1-5 Torino
Scorers: Amartey 6 (C), Martinez 15, 47 (T), Amauri pen 42 (T), Darmian 49 (T), Gaston Silva 53 (T)
FC Copenhagen: Andersen; Amartey, M Jorgensen, Antonsson, Hogli; Amankwaa, Delaney, Claudemir (Lindbjerg 77), Toutouh; N Jorgensen (Felfel 84), De Ridder (Olsen 87)
Torino: Padelli; Darmian, Glik, Moretti; Maksimovic (Jansson 60), Bovo, Gazzi, El Kaddouri (Graziano 66), Silva; Martinez (Quagliarella 58), Amauri
Ref: Bezborodov (RUS)
Sent off: Antonsson 30 (C), M Jorgensen 41 (C)