Genoa end a five-match wait for a win, beating Fiorentina 2-1 at the Ferraris

Genoa had gone into this match without a win all season — one draw and four defeats from their first five games, bottom of Serie A on a single point — but two early goals at the Ferraris were enough to get them off the mark against a Fiorentina side that has struggled almost as badly. Milutin Osmajic opened the scoring in the 7th minute and Junior Messias doubled it eight minutes later, and although Johan Vásquez turned the ball into his own net to give Fiorentina a route back into it, Genoa held on for a 2-1 win.

Osmajic and Messias inside a quarter of an hour

Osmajic's goal came inside the opening ten minutes, finishing a move down the Genoa left, and Messias made it 2-0 soon after to give the hosts a cushion they had not enjoyed at any point this season. Fiorentina, missing a response for long spells, finally got on the board in the 73rd minute when Vásquez diverted the ball into his own net under pressure, but the visitors could not find an equaliser in the final quarter of an hour despite committing men forward.

Fiorentina had almost two-thirds of the ball and completed nearly twice as many passes as Genoa, but a lead built on two clinical finishes in the opening quarter of an hour proved enough — the hosts' expected-goals total actually finished higher than their opponents' despite being outplayed on possession. The match was also a physical one: eight players were booked in total, three from Fiorentina (Luca Ranieri, Christ Inao Oulaï and substitute Viery) and five from Genoa — starters Hamed Traoré and Johan Vásquez, plus substitutes Samuel Wiafe, Vitinha and Stefano Sabelli — all five of the latter coming after the hour as the hosts defended their lead under mounting pressure.

Two sides going in opposite directions

That run — one point from a possible 15 — was the worst in Serie A heading into this round, and it makes the result at the Ferraris Genoa's first win of the campaign. Fiorentina's own form had been only marginally better: one win, one draw and three defeats in their first five, including a 4-0 loss at Roma. This defeat drops Fiorentina to 18th, inside the bottom three, while Genoa's win lifts them off the foot of the table.

What's next

Genoa will hope this is the win that turns their season around after the heaviest possible start; Fiorentina, by contrast, now sit in the relegation zone after six rounds and need a response of their own before the gap to safety grows any further.