Serie A: Torino claim simple 2-0 victory over Chievo

Torino retain an outside chance of sneaking into the Europa League after dominating Chievo to win 2-0 on Sunday.

The Granata flattered to deceive for 51 minutes, but once Maxi Lopez had notched an overdue opener he was quickly able to convert a brace against a Chievo side who offered very little at the Stadio Olimpico.

With two games of the Serie A season remaining, Torino are four points behind sixth-placed Fiorentina.

Chievo were under siege from the first minute of the first half to the last but they somehow managed to reach the break unscathed.

Josef Martinez and Omar El Kaddouri both missed by mere inches in the opening minutes and the latter fired an angled drive just wide of the mark in the 15th minute.

The Venezuelan half of the strike partnership wriggled into a shooting position eight minutes later, the Chievo defence managing to repel him before launching a rare counter-attack.

Riccardo Meggiorini really should have boosted the Flying Donkeys into a shock lead when unleashing a powerful left-footed effort - but his strike instead shaved the crossbar.

Back came Torino with Francesco Bardi stopping a Giuseppe Vives header before Martinez's attempt was pushed out for a corner.

Vives came knocking again in the 38th minute and there was still time for another Torino raid before half-time, yet Martinez was thwarted once again as Bardi flicked his shot on the turn around his near post.

The Granata returned to the pitch determined to make their early dominance count for something and they fulfilled their promise by opening the scoring five minutes after the restart.

After Martinez won yet another corner, Lopez appeared in the box to head the ball home with power.

With so many chances wasted before the interval it was vital Torino doubled their lead quickly and Gaston Silva came close when clattering the bar from way out.

The second goal arrived in the 69th minute when Lopez advanced all the way from the centre circle to the Chievo box before beating Bardi with a cool right-footed finish.

The Argentinian fancied a hat-trick and went near to converting one when picking his spot from the D - only the quick thinking of Bardi denied him.

Moments later Matteo Darmian was trying his luck as Cristian Molinaro's cross took the Chievo defence out of play, but the Italy international's header missed the target.