Spezia’s Serie A safety at risk after Torino hammering

MILAN: Spezia´s bid for Serie A survival was hit on Saturday after a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Torino left them at risk of falling into the drop zone. Przemyslaw Wisniewski´s unfortunate own goal midway through the first half and fine finishes from Samuele Ricci, Ivan Ilic and Yann Karamoh in the final 20 minutes left Spezia a point above the bottom three.

Leonardo Semplici´s side will drop into the relegation zone with one game remaining if Verona beat already-safe Empoli in Sunday´s early fixture.

Spezia were outplayed but were also unlucky to have a penalty revoked for an Emmanuel Gyasi handball while still trailing by a single goal.

M´Bala Nzola was also denied a consolation goal shortly before the end when a long VAR check led to his 14th league strike of the season being chalked off for offside. A straight-forward win moved Torino up to eighth and was good news for Lecce who are two points above Spezia in 16th.

Lecce are at Monza on Sunday afternoon and will start their fixture behind Verona due to an inferior head-to-head record if their relegation rivals beat Empoli.

Later Roma try to boost their dwindling hopes of Champions League football next season when they take on Fiorentina in a battle of teams in European finals.

Jose Mourinho´s side are four points off fourth spot, held by AC Milan who are at troubled Juventus on Sunday night, ahead of their match in Florence.

Roma face Sevilla in the Europa League final on Wednesday and Mourinho picked a second-string side for Saturday´s clash, while Fiorentina have a week more to prepare for their Europa Conference League final with West Ham.