Torino midfielder Kian Fitz-Jim got his side off to the perfect start against Monza on Friday, contributing to a 3-2 victory that gave Ignazio Abate's granata a third consecutive Serie A win. Rafik Belghali and Nikola Vlaลกiฤ also scored as Torino came through a match that, at 3-2, was tighter than the home side would have preferred.
The result has real weight in the context of where this season began. Torino sat in difficult territory through the opening weeks, and the early-season version of this squad looked fragile. Three straight wins have changed the arithmetic and the atmosphere. With 13 points from eight matches โ four wins, one draw, three defeats โ the granata now occupy seventh place, a position that reflects genuine momentum rather than flattering fixture scheduling.
For Fitz-Jim, 23, the goal is his first of the Serie A 2026-27 campaign across six appearances, and it arrived at a moment when Torino needed a fast start. His average rating of 6.82 across those six matches is the number of a player doing his job consistently rather than spectacularly, which is precisely what a midfield engine requires. The AI overall of 72 out of 100, with a potential of 78, suggests a player who has not yet reached his ceiling โ and a run of form like this, in a team finding its structure under Abate, is the kind of environment that accelerates development.
The win also carried a subplot: Torino's opponents were managed by Ivan Juric, the coach who shaped much of the club's recent identity before departing. Fitz-Jim's opener helped ensure that reunion ended on granata terms.
Torino have now scored 13 goals and conceded 11 in eight matches โ a side that can hurt opponents but has not yet learned to shut games out cleanly, as the final scoreline against Monza demonstrated. Fitz-Jim's role in the coming weeks will be to sustain this level while Abate's side tests whether three wins represent a turning point or a temporary peak.