Scotland star breaks Serie A goal drought but denied victory by controversial VAR moment

Torino looked set to claim an important away victory over Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday afternoon, only to concede a penalty kick in the 103rd minute as the hosts snatched a point in a pulsating 3-3 draw.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Adams and Il Toro, who themselves had netted two minutes into added-on time in what appeared to be the winner.

Adams went into the match having not scored this season for Torino, his only goal in the 2025/26 campaign coming for Scotland in their last World Cup qualifier, a 2-0 win over Belarus in Hungary. As a result, he was left on the bench by manager Marco Baroni for the trip to the capital.

Adams came in in the 70th minute with Torino trailing 2-1 after Giovanni Simeone’s opener was cancelled out by two first-half strikes from Matteo Cancellieri. And it took the 29-year-old former Southampton hitman just three minutes to get on the scoresheet, latching on to a Niels Nkounkou cross to fire past Lazio keeper Ivan Provedel.

It was Adams’ first goal for Torino since he netted in a 2-0 win over Udinese back on April 23 and looked to have set his team on to victory, with Saul Coco finding the net again for the visitors on 92 minutes.

VAR drama at the death

But in a frantic finish, Lazio were awarded a penalty when VAR intervened to advise that there had been a foul on substitute Tijjani Noslin. After a long check, referee Marco Piccinini pointed to the spot and Danilo Cataldi held his nerve 13 minutes into stoppage time to ensure a share of the spoils.

The result leaves Torino 16th in Serie A on five points, two places above the relegation zone, while Lazio are in 13th.

Adams will now head to Glasgow to team up with the Scotland national squad ahead of two vital World Cup qualifiers against Greece on Thursday and then Belarus three days later, both at Hampden.

Torino’s next Serie A match is at home to defending champions Napoli, who have fellow Scotland stars Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour in their ranks.