Jurgen Saumel hit a cracking winner for Torino in yesterday's 1-0 victory over Palermo.

"This is a period in which we cannot seem to reap what we sow, but [Jurgen] Saumel's goal allowed us to get this deserved win," said Toro boss Gianni de Biasi.

The 1-0 result over the Rosanero was secured in the final minutes after Antonio Nocerino saw red.

"We did more than Palermo, created plenty of scoring opportunities and desperately wanted this victory, but if it had finished 0-0 then the judgement on our performance would have been negative despite the fact we played with focus and quality for 90 minutes."

Palermo were in the game right up until the end, even though Nocerino had been sent off and Toro had many chances.

"We played well, but were not as incisive as we usually are," said Rosanero coach Davide Ballardini. "I'd say we did plenty and had our chances to win it, too.

"Torino are a strong side and in the second half got even better with Alessandro Rosina and Elvis Abbruscato coming off the bench.

"The Granata have not won recently because of bad luck, so their position in the table was an anomaly."