As the Starting 11 jogged onto the field, the home supporters in Delle Alpi erupted in applause for their players. A hard-fought victory against Lazio a week ago set the stage for the home-opener against Udinese. Facing a 3-5-2 for the first time, Torino seemed awkward in their attack, and turned the ball over before they could get anything meaningful started up. Udinese utilized a strong counter-attack, which led to a quick goal by David Di Michele just 5 minutes in. Though subdued, the Torino crowd persevered, and held out hope, given last week's result. Di Michele was able to slip by the defense once again in the 26th minute, this time loding one in the top corner to make it 2-0 Udinese.
Many would have counted out Torino, last year's gems of Serie B, if not for a single man....
Emile Heskey.
It was expected that Torino would rely heavily this season on the magic Heskey showed against Serie B competition last season. Seemingly able to take over a game all by himself, Heskey was easily the most important acquisition in all of Serie B in 2004.
At the 36th minute, Heskey found his way past the midfield defense, and had little trouble with the backs on his way to striking home a goal to make it 2-1. As simple as that, the crowd began roaring for their boys in red once again. Cutting the lead in half and getting on the board before halftime was a huge accomplishment. However, things got even better as Andre Luciano Pinga was able to evade the midfield challenge of Udinese and get it to Heskey on the wing. As Heskey spun around the right back and drew the ire of goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis, fellow striker Akeem Omolade snuck in from behind, and was in perfect position to receive Heskey's pass and tap home the equalizer, making it 2-2. The Udinese players were on their heels, and Heskey delivered a knockout just moments later. Off the re-start, Emile stole the ball away and had a wide-open midfield as he ran toward the keeper's left. With CB Hernan Silvera rushing in to meet him, Heskey put all his force behind a shot that struck Silvera's leg, sent the keeper sprawling the wrong way, and rolled into the goal without a soul around to stop it.
Torino went into the half up 3-2, with all the momentum they could hope for, and the dream of a 2-0-0 start in Serie A just 45 minutes away.
Udinese came out determined to tie it back up, and their star of the game, David Di Michele began a charge of his own toward the goal. But he wouldn't be so lucky, as a strong sliding challenge from Luca Mezzano sent him collapsing to the ground, holding his ankle. Mezzano received a yellow card, and there's no question that he earned it. That essentially put an end to Udinese's attack, as they had few more dangerous chances during the game. The home crowd had plenty to cheer about in the second half though, as Emile Heskey embarassed the Udinese defenders on back-to-back occasions, scoring again in the 76th and 78th minutes, leaving the final score at 5-2 (4 goals for Heskey!) in favor of the home squad.
This dream start just may keep up for 2 more weeks, as Torino is scheduled to face two clubs who were recently promoted as well, Genoa (0-1-1) and Ascoli (0-0-2).
However, it is September 25th that will certainly fill Delle Alpi from wall to wall. Shevchenko, Kaka, Nesta, Pirlo, Dida, and all the rest of AC Milan (2-1-0) will pay a visit for a matchup you should be sure not to miss!