After 13 successive away defeats to Roma, Genoa arrived at the Stadio Olimpico with the weight of history pressing firmly down on them but ended their barren run with a 3-3 draw on Sunday.
Having led three times in the match through goals from Cengiz Under, Edin Dzeko and Aleksandr Kolarov respectively, the Giallorossi were pegged back each time and had to settle for an opening day point.
Whilst his attack seemed to click and showed plenty of potential for a season full of goals, new Roma coach Paulo Fonseca could only watch on in horror as his defence contrived to let in three at the other end.
New Roma, same old problems
Despite a summer off and a new coach coming in, it was like Roma had never been away as sloppy defending allowed a usually goal-shy Genoa to net three away from home. Only three teams scored less than the Grifone last season, but coming up against an out-of-sorts Juan Jesus allowed them to notch up their strike tally early.
Starting with Jesus and Federico Fazio at the heart of the defence, Roma looked shaky against the physicality of Andrea Pinamonti and were too narrow to deal with some of Genoa’s better crosses, including the delivery that saw Christian Kouame nod in the third equaliser.
Jesus, meanwhile, was poor throughout and his clumsy tackle on Pinamonti to concede a first half penalty proved costly, particularly as Genoa were clinging on at that point and grasped the lifeline thrown to them with both hands.
New arrival Gianluca Mancini was thrown on after the hour for Jesus and should offer more stability once he becomes acclimatised to life in the capital, but the Lupi’s opening night showing may accelerate advances for Juventus centre-back Daniele Rugani.
Roma have pace to burn
If his defence is giving him headaches, Fonseca can at least be encouraged by what he saw at the other end. Particularly in the first half, Roma found joy in winning the ball back quickly and getting up field to unleash the sheer pace of wingers Cengiz Under and Justin Kluivert, aided by the fleet-footed and crafty Nicolo Zaniolo.
With striker Edin Dzeko provided the strength and hold up play to support the young trio behind him, the Giallorossi were able to deploy a fluid and quick-moving attacking unit to carve open space to run into. This was evident in the way Under found himself in acres of space to open the scoring, before hitting the post minutes later with a similar move.
Fonseca’s style of play relies on a quick turnaround of the ball in midfield, and in Lorenzo Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante he has two players that can collect possession and immediately set the attacking options free before the opposition can drop back.
In Dzeko, Zaniolo and Under, Roma have recently tied down three of the quartet to new contracts and were duly rewarded for their faith in the attack by some fine individual displays.
Andreazzoli may prove a savvy choice for Genoa
Despite being unable to keep them up, new Genoa coach Aurelio Andreazzoli won plenty of plaudits last term for his approach with former club Empoli.
Having weathered the storm of an early Roma onslaught well and shown great character to claw back three times, his style of attacking football may prove a hit at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Where Genoa were stale and unadventurous last term, the signs were there that this team have enough about them now to create and put away enough chances to be a threat. Whether this translates into points in the long-term remains to be seen, but by ending the Rossoblu’s appalling losing streak away to Roma, he has already set the team in the right direction.
