A thrilling encounter at the Stadio Marassi saw Genoa maintain their fourth place in the table with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Juventus, who probably blew their last chance to trouble Inter in the Scudetto race.
Genoa 3-2 Juventus
Apr 11, 2009 4:28:10 PM
Juventus travelled to face fourth-placed Genoa in an effort to reduce the distance from Inter, who drew against Palermo in the afternoon, ahead of next week’s Derby d’Italia.
The Bianconeri played in their usual 4-4-2 formation with captain Alessandro Del Piero alongside Vincenzo Iaquinta in attack, while Genoa played in a 3-4-3 with Giuseppe Sculli, Bosko Jankovic, and Raffaele Palladino up front.
First Half
Genoa put great pressure on the visitors at the start, and had their first chance in the 7th minute. Giandomenico Mesto found space for a cross from the right that found Juve youth product Palladino, who controlled the ball and fired a shot that was cleared off the line by Nicola Legrottaglie with Gianluigi Buffon beaten.
At the other end, Iaquinta had the ball in the net on an assist by Christian Poulsen, but the play had been stopped for an offside position. Replays showed it was a very dubious call by the linesman.
The home side made themselves dangerous twice around the 13th minute, when first Palladino played in a dangerous cross that was cleared by Giorgio Chiellini, and then Legrottaglie seemed to touch the ball with his arm, but the referee waved play on.
A minute later, Del Piero threatened with one of his trademark moves, cutting inside from the left after some nice dribbles, but Ivan Juric managed to clear the ball away for a corner.
In the 16th minute, Buffon had to stretch out to block a precise long-range shot by Sculli that was heading for the bottom corner.
On the half hour mark, the home side managed to take a deserved lead. Mesto cut inside from the right and went down after being fouled, however the ball came to Thiago Motta who hit the ball first time towards the bottom corner to make it 1-0 Genoa. While there was obviously a foul, the referee did well to give Genoa the advantage, although Juve’s defenders complained that they heard the ref whistle.
Just before the break, the official made a huge blunder by awarding Juve a penalty that was clearly not deserved. Del Piero made a run into the area from the right and lost the ball to Matteo Ferrari, who made a fine sliding tackle, but the referee inexplicably pointed to the spot. Del Piero himself stepped up to make it all square again in the 44th minute.
However, justice was done in the third minute of injury time, as Motta restored Genoa’s lead. On a corner kick by Juric, Jonathan Zebina lost sight of the midfielder, who fired a great shot from inside the area that hit the top corner of the net.
An eventful first half thus finished on a deserved 2-1 lead for the home side.
Second Half
In the second half Genoa continued to control the match, despite being in front. However, the first chances came for Juventus around the hour mark, as Del Piero played in a cross in the 58th minute that was headed on by Iaquinta for Nedved, who fired a shot on goal that was cleared off the line by Giuseppe Biava. As the move continued, the Czech star tried a right footed volley that went just wide.
A turning point in the match came in the 65th minute, when Mauro Camoranesi was sent off for Juve after a bad foul on Sculli. However, Juve did not get discouraged initially, and in the 71st minute they had the next chance through their best player Del Piero, who received the ball on a long pass by Giorgio Chiellini, dribbled past Salvatore Bocchetti but Rubinho did well to come out and clear the ball away as he was about to shoot.
A minute later, Buffon came up with a great save to keep Genoa from scoring a third, as he slapped the ball away on a header by Sculli on a cross by Domenico Criscito. In the 73rd minute, there was another big chance for the home side as Juric sent in a corner that found Jankovic, whose header toward the far post hit the woodwork.
Juve found a surprising equaliser in the 84th minute, when Nedved dribbled his way past three defenders through the middle and touched the ball to Iaquinta, who beat Rubinho with a nice lob to make it 2-2.
However, the visitors’ joy did not last long as just four minutes later Genoa restored their lead. Substitute Marco Rossi beat the offside trap and played the ball into the area for Palladino, who easily slotted the ball into the net.
Four minutes of injury time were not enough for Juve to find another equaliser. This huge victory allowed Genoa to maintain their fourth place in the standings, while for Juve this was definitely the very last chance to trouble Inter in their run toward the Scudetto.
Teams
Genoa (3-4-3): Rubinho; Biava, Ferrari, Bocchetti; Mesto (42’ Rossi), Motta, Juric, Criscito; Sculli (80’ Papastathopoulos), Jankovic (80’ Jankovic), Palladino. Coach: Gasperini.
Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Zebina (74’ Grygera), Legrottaglie (74’ Marchionni), Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Marchisio, Poulsen, Nedved; Iaquinta, Del Piero. Coach: Ranieri.
Goals: 29’ Motta (G), 44’ Del Piero pen. (J), 48’ Motta (G), 84’ Iaquinta (J), 88’ Palladino (G)
Booked: Ferrari, Bocchetti (G); Zebina, Marchisio, Grygera (J)
Sent off: Camoranesi (J) 65’
Danilo Pochini / Goal.com
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