Genoa defeated Roma 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in their final Serie A match of the season.
Giannis Fetfatzidis’ 83rd minute strike was enough to earn the Grifone the three points in what was ultimately a poor game at the Stadio Ferraris.
In a fairly entertaining opening 10 minutes it was Roma who looked the more threatening, though didn’t create much, only a half-hearted long shot from Radja Nainggolan looked to have Mattia Perin in the Genoa goal scrambling.
Chances were scarce, and despite Roma dominating possession it was Genoa who almost found the breakthrough midway through the first half.
A deep Giuseppe Sculli cross from the right found an unmarked Giovanni Marchese at the back post but the midfielder’s header was expertly saved by Lukasz Skorupski.
Then moments later a similar situation occurred at the opposite end with Perin performing a similar stop to deny Mattia Destro, then a mistake from De Maio almost allowed Nainggolan in, but the ball was cleared for a corner.
Perin was at work again getting down to save a low Adem Ljajic shot as the game opened up.
Stefano Sturaro went on a lung bursting run, played a one-two with Sculli, before collecting the ball in the penalty area, but he over ran the ball and his cut back was stopped by Mehdi Benatia, who then started a counter.
Federico Ricci managed to take the ball into the Genoa are but as he cut inside he slipped, though did appeal for a penalty.
As the first half wore on both teams lost a bit of intensity and again chances were few and far between, though Roma were the team on top.
The second period started as the opening half finished with little in terms of goalmouth action and the majority of the play occurring in the middle of the park.
Centurion was brought down by Tin Jedvaj as Genoa countered, and from the resulting free kick, Marchese got a good cross into the box, but there was no one on the end to nod it into the net.
Following that incident the game subsided into a scrappy affair with stray passes, misplaced long shots and general lack of creativity from both teams.
However, out of nowhere a excellent ball from Konate, plus a mistake from Benatia gifted the ball to Fetfatzidis who coolly chipped the ball over the onrushing Skorupski.
That sparked the game into life with Genoa having another brilliant chance on the counter with Konate firing in from the right, forcing a good save from the Roma goalkeeper.
Report by Dov Schiavone at the Stadio Ferraris in Genoa
