Luis Alberto’s fifth away goal (out of five) allows Lazio to reach sixth place while awaiting the other matches of the weekend. All in all, a painless defeat for Genoa, unassailable at 39 in twelfth position, who in the second half paid for last Monday’s close effort in Florence, while for the biancazzurri three important points in view of the second leg of the Italian Cup next Tuesday against Juventus.
There are many absences in the two teams: Gilardino has to give up not only Malinovskyi and Vitinha but also Bani and Messias and gives Badelj rest by inserting Strootman in midfield; Tudor does not have Guendouzi, Immobile, Zaccagni and Provedel and relies on Luis Alberto’s desire for revenge after the weekly controversies but the captaincy goes to Marusic.
The hosts in the yellow jersey immediately threatened at the start with Ekuban who beat Gila and left-footed from the edge gave Mandas shivers then in the 13th minute the best move from the hosts, with Strootman serving Gudmundsson in the area who with a heel he sets the ball for Retegui who shoots high from the edge. The visitors’ possession is greater but the guests only show up at half-time with two long-range shots, the first from Gila over the crossbar and in the 27th minute with a powerful right-footed shot from outside by Felipe Anderson who whistles near Martinez’s right post who he will be inactive in this first fraction and often involved in the construction of the maneuver with his feet, with some shivers flowing among the over thirty thousand present. It’s a balanced match, not particularly sparkling but still correct, with only Casale ending up in Feliciani’s notebook for a bad cut on Retegui who varied greatly on the offensive front and with Frendrup showing off by dabbing at everything and everyone, like in the 31st minute when he was decisive in the recovery on Anderson. The Dane is fundamental in the middle also to support a narrow-gauge Strootman, Vecino and Kamada dictate the tempo of the guest’s game without however finding gaps forward, where the inconsistent Castellanos makes even the last Immobile regret. Ekuban tries the house specialty with a half overhead kick too central to worry Mandas, Vasquez clears Martin’s corner from the left in the center of the area then at 44′ Casale loses the ball coming out in great difficulty with his feet, Retegui steals the ball and from midfield, seeing Mandas outside the posts, looks for the Eurogoal with ball ending far from the posts. In the last minute of the first half, a defensive error by De Winter gives a chance that Castellanos fails to exploit and with the biancozzurri unbalanced the rossoblù counterattack develops, with Ekuban taking flight towards the opponent’s goal and instead of serving the free Gudmundsson selfishly shoots diagonallytouching the post to the right of Mandas.
Upon his return, Tudor takes over Casale for Romagnoli after Lazzari, injured, had given way to Hysaj in the first half and the start of the second half sees Lazio stably pitching their tents in the opponent’s half of the field, with Luis Alberto who in the 8th minute , after a central percussion on a ball lost by Retegui, he challenges Martinez from the edge with a slow but poisonous right-footed shot. Genoa closes in front of their goalkeeper and is no longer able to restart, the midfield, where only Frendrup still seems to have energy, is in the hands of the guests and in the 16th minute a slip by De Winter allows the guests to come close to taking the lead, with Felipe’s undersized right foot which is saved for a corner by Martin. And after yet another corner from Luis Alberto and Romagnoli’s header to the side in the 22nd minute Lazio took the leadwith a nice pocket by Anderson for the insertion of Kamada That returns to the center where Luis Alberto takes advantage of Vecino’s pass and burns the static and tired Strootman to pass Martinezkissing the crest on the shirt after the goal.
It’s time for substitutions, Felipe and Castellanos give way to Pedro and Cataldi while Badelj and Ankeye take over Strootman and Ekuban, who passed away during the match after a good start. But Genoa’s reaction is all about a left-footed call from the edge of Retegui which only tickles Mandas, Sabelli and Thorsby also enter among the hosts and the former “enfant du pays” Rovella, who knows why he was whistled upon entering the pitch field, which takes over the man of the match Luis Alberto and Tudor at the final whistle can rejoice for a success that came at the end of a truly tormented week in the Biancoceleste home.
As said for the team of Gilardino, loudly invoked during the match by the North and always waiting to know what his future will be, a defeat that shouldn’t be too depressing and which still made us understand some things. The absence of Bani in the defensive department causes a loss of solidity and tranquility, De Winter still proved to be too immature to command a rearguard where only Vasquez reaches sufficiency, with Vogliacco author of some light-heartedness and missed defensive readings which could have cost him dearly. On the flanks, Spence needs to grow and has room for improvement but he still appears to be an untapped talent, Martin played a judicious performance without high pitches while in midfield the absence of Badelj was felt, with Strootman too far from an acceptable physical condition and often at the mercy of opponents, with Frendrup often forced to support him, the only one above enough in the rossoblu late afternoon. A match in which even Gudmundsson, lined up behind the two strikers, did not have his usual brilliance and danger and Retegui and Ekuban were unable to make an impact, with the Italian Ghanaian weighed down by the error at the end of the half which could have give Genoa the lead and with the national team’s center forward never really dangerous in the final sixteen metres. The front-wheel drive formula with Albert behind the tips is postponed, a scheme that effectively causes the Grifone to lose a man in the middle department.
In Lazio, Luis Alberto was on top and despite not shining, a good performance especially in the second half from the whole complex, with the only insufficient being Casale, in difficulty in the first half and then taken over by the better Romagnoli and Castellanos, easily muzzled by the opponents.
GENOA-LAZIO 0-1 Serie A 2023-24 Scoreboard
Markers: st 22′ Luis Alberto
GENOA (3-4-1-2): Martinez 6 – Vogliacco 5 (34′ st Sabelli nc) De Winter 5 Vasquez 6 – Spence 5,5 Frendrup 6,5 (43′ st Thorsby nc) Strootman 5 (23′ st Badelj 5.5) Martin 6 – Gudmundsson 5.5 – Retegui 5 Ekuban 5 (23′ st Ankeye 5) All: Gilardino 5.5 Available: Leali, Sommariva, Bohinen, Cittadini, Papadopoulos, Pittino, Haps
LAZIO (3-4-2-1): Mandas 6 – Patric 6 Casale 5 (1′ st Romagnoli 6.5) Gila 6.5 – Marusic 6.5 Kamada 6.5 Vecino 6 Lazzari 5.5 (36′ st Hysaj 6) – Felipe Anderson 6 (22′ st Pedro 6) Luis Alberto 7 (40′ st Rovella nc) – Castellanos 4.5 (22′ st Cataldi 6) All: Tudor 6.5 Available: Sepe, Renzetti, Pellegrini, Isaksen
Referee: Feliciani of Teramo 6.5
Notes: clear and rather cool afternoon, pitch in good condition. Attendance 30697. Booked: Vogliacco (G) Casale and Cataldi (L). Cooldown: 1 +4 minutes.
MARCO FERRERA
Tags: Luis Alberto beats Genoa deadlocked match
