Serie A: Torino beat Palermo to move 2nd as Sassuolo and Chievo draw
MILAN -- Sassuolo and Chievo Verona missed the opportunity to move provisionally second in Serie A as they drew 1-1 on Sunday.
Alberto Paloschi leveled in the 24th after Gregoire Defrel had given Sassuolo a third-minute lead.
Instead Torino leapfrogged both into second, holding on for a 2-1 win over Palermo despite ending the match with nine men.
They moved a point ahead of Fiorentina, which visits league leader Inter Milan later. Inter have yet to drop a point.
Lazio were level with Fiorentina after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Hellas Verona for the first time in 24 years.
Udinese also came from behind to win by the same scoreline at Bologna, snapping a four-match losing streak, while 10-man AC Milan lost 1-0 at Genoa.
Both Sassuolo and Chievo knew they could move into second spot for a few hours at least with a win at Mapei Stadium.
Sassuolo got off to the perfect start when Defrel headed in after Albano Bizzarri parried Antonio Floro Flores' strike.
Chievo leveled 11 minutes later as Paloschi's glancing header beat the goalkeeper into the far bottom corner. The goal was only given after several moments of discussion between the officials as to whether Fabrizio Cacciatore had got the final touch, with the Chievo defender - who appeared to be in an offside position - insisting he had kicked the ball after it went over the line.
Television replays showed the decision to award the goal was correct as not only had Cacciatore touched the ball after it crossed the line, but he looked to be just onside on Paloschi's header.
Defrel thought he had restored Sassuolo's lead but he was harshly adjudged to have been offside on Alfred Duncan's pass.
Sassuolo moved level on points with Fiorentina and Torino, one ahead of Chievo.
Torino had suffered their first defeat of the season midweek against Chievo and almost found itself behind five minutes from halftime when Aleksandar Trajkovski's free kick crashed off the crossbar.
Instead it was Torino which went in at the break ahead after Maxi Lopez attempted to reach Cristian Molinaro's low cross and, in trying to stop him, Palermo defender Giancarlo Gonzalez bundled it into his own net.
Marco Benassi doubled Torino's lead with a sensational volley into the far top corner from Maxi Lopez's cross immediately after the break.
Palermo was handed a way back into the match on the hour mark when Molinaro was sent off following a second booking and Gonzalez atoned for his own goal by heading into the opponents' goal 10 minutes later.
Torino went down to nine men a minute from time when Joel Obi was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Franco Vazquez. Palermo almost snatched a point but Aljaz Struna headed Oscar Hiljemark's cross off the bar.
Lazio hadn't won a Serie A match at the Bentegodi since October 1991 but almost got off to the perfect start when it had the ball in the back of the net after three minutes, but play had been stopped for a foul in the box.
Verona took the lead in the 33rd after Juanito Gomez Taleb hit Federico Viviani's free kick onto the bar from two yards out but Per Helander nodded in the rebound to spare his teammate's blushes.
Lazio leveled in the 63rd when Lucas Biglia sent a penalty straight down the middle after Jacopo Sala had brought down Keita Balde Diao, who had come off the bench moments earlier.
Lazio defender Mauricio was shown a second yellow card nine minutes from time but the visitors snatched a winner five minutes later when Biglia took a short free-kick and Marco Parolo drilled it into the bottom left corner.
