Genoa drew with Lazio 0-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday evening in Serie A, the first draw between these sides since 2011.
The visiting side came with every intention to ruffle the feathers of the Rossoblu right from the first whistle, exemplified by Danilo Catalti’s early effort that forced Mattia Perin into a fine stop, tipping it around the post.
The Biancocelesti continued to pressurise Genoa and they nearly took the lead prior to the 20 minute mark. A whipped-in corner found the head of Stefano Mauri but the Italian could only head onto the crossbar.
There were calls for a penalty when Felipe Anderson was brought down just inside the penalty area by Nicolas Burdisso, only for Daniele Orsato to wave away the protests on the half-hour mark.
Genoa finally conjured up a big opening with the game closing in on half-time when Alessio Cerci directed a shot toward the bottom corner leaving Abdoulay Konko to clear off the line.
The second-half saw a much more attacking performance from the home team, which was unfortunately marred by the injured sustained by Cristian Ansaldi, who had pulled up with a hamstring injury.
Constantly Genoa were at Lazio’s throats, playing off the wonderful atmosphere at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Just after the hour Federico Marchetti came to the visitors rescue with a strong save from Ezequiel Munoz’s powerful header.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper then had to keep out Leonardo Pavoletti with the Grifone continuously worrying Stefano Pioli’s Lazio.
Substitute Balde Keita nearly got in around the Genoa back-line, firing his shot into the grateful arms of Perin as the match entered the final 15 minutes.
The result aided neither team in their bids for both European football and Serie A stability.
