Inspired Josip Ilicic helps Atalanta to astonishing 7-0 win at Torino

A hat-trick from Josip Ilicic that included a sensational free-kick inspired Atalanta to an astonishing 7-0 away win over Torino, their biggest ever Serie A triumph.

Atalanta, who will play Valencia in the Champions League last 16, boosted their hopes of achieving another top-four finish with a stunning victory on Saturday.

Ilicic, who netted a remarkable free-kick from near the halfway line, scored his fourth Serie A hat-trick since the start of 2018, with only Lionel Messi (7) and Sergio Aguero (6) boasting better records over that span in the top five European leagues.

Atalanta's first top-flight win by a seven-goal margin - and Torino's largest such home defeat - saw Robin Gosens follow up Ilicic's close-range opener with a fine volley.

7 - #Atalanta have won a Serie A match with at least 7 goals margin for the first time in their history and #Torino have lost a Serie A home match with at least 7 goals margin for the first time in their history. Unreal #TorinoAtalanta

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 25, 2020

Duvan Zapata scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time before Ilicic caught out home goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu with an audacious set-piece from next to the centre circle after 53 minutes.

He completed his hat-trick a minute later and Il Toro's humiliation was sealed when substitute Luis Muriel scored a quickfire late double, one of his efforts coming from the penalty spot.

Armando Izzo was sent off for a second bookable offence when Torino were five goals down, and they ended up with nine men after Sasa Lukic got a straight red for a foul on Alejandro Gomez, by which point the visitors had already scored seven.

4 - Josip #Ilicic has scored 3+ goals in a Serie A match for the 4th time since the start of 2018: only Aguero (6) and Messi (7) have netted more hat-tricks in this period in the top-5 European leagues. Empyrean. #TorinoAtalanta

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) January 25, 2020

Gian Piero Gasperini's men are fifth in the table, level on points with Roma above them, with Torino down in 10th position.

Atalanta were third in Serie A last season and finished second to Manchester City in Champions League Group C despite losing their first three matches in the competition.