Roma conquer 10-man Genoa to keep heat on leaders Juventus

Roma are within a point of Juventus after Radja Nainggolan beat 10-man Genoa despite Eugenio Lamanna saving a penalty on his Serie A debut.

It was third hosting second and the wind was all in Genoa’s sails, unbeaten in over two months. The Giallorossi were fresh from a 2-2 home draw with Sassuolo and midweek Champions League elimination at the hands of Manchester City.

 Daniele De Rossi was suspended with Leandro Castan, Federico Balzaretti and Lukasz Skorupski sidelined. The Grifone missed Juraj Kucka, but Nicolas Burdisso returned from his ban. Roma had lost five of their last six trips to Marassi and their fans were barred from this away game, so the crowd was entirely Rossoblu. 

Rudi Garcia had to chance to close within a point of Juventus, who were held 1-1 by Sampdoria in the early kick-off. Gervinho pulled back for Adem Ljajic, who tried to pass it on rather than shoot unmarked on the edge of the box.

 There were timid Genoa penalty appeals when Davide Astori cut off Stefano Sturaro. Mattia Perin was forced into a desperate double save on Gervinho, then Miralem Pjanic’s follow-up and eventually Ljajic blasted over.

 Astori and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa were in the book before the half-hour mark, but the game changed when Perin went sliding in to take down Radja Nainggolan on the counter-attack. The red card and penalty were inevitable. 

Eugenio Lamanna came on for his Serie A debut and the 25-year-old’s first ever touch of the ball in the top flight was parrying a Ljajic penalty! Lamanna was alert again to smother a Nainggolan strike, but could do precious little when the Belgium international smacked a sensational scissor-kick volley from the edge of the box on Douglas Maicon’s cross. Genoa were furious, as they wanted play stopped for a blatant Ljajic dive in the build-up, but the referee had let it run.

 On the stroke of half-time, Alessandro Matri forced a save out of Morgan De Sanctis on the counter. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini was sent off at half-time for arguing with the referee. Ljajic didn’t get enough power to a Maicon cross, poking it into Lamanna’s arms from six yards. Florenzi’s volley was charged down, but De Sanctis had to intercept a Diego Perotti full-back reaching Andrea Bertolacci from six yards. Gasp threw on striker Mauricio Pinilla for defender Sebastien De Maio in a bid to snatch an equaliser for 10-man Genoa.

 Gervinho wasted the chance to double Roma’s lead, as he was one-on-one with Lamanna from a quickly-taken free kick only to fire wide. Perotti turned over the bar after a great first touch, then Florenzi’s effort was deflected for a corner from Gervinho assist. Nicolas Andre Burdisso nodded a free kick over the bar, Pjanic’s strike skimmed the upright and Juan Manuel Iturbe wasted a golden opportunity set up by Florenzi. Genoa thought they had equalised deep into stoppages when a corner was flicked on for Rincon from point-blank range, but he had strayed offside.