Lecce 1-2 Genoa: Osmajic and Messias score inside 28 minutes, Maleh's free-kick not enough
Milutin Osmajic and Junior Messias scored either side of a quarter-hour at the Via del Mare, and Youssef Maleh's first-half free-kick could not stop Genoa holding on for a 2-1 win.
Genoa had the game almost won before the half-hour mark. Milutin Osmajic opened the scoring in the 11th minute, finished off a move started by Junior Messias, and seventeen minutes later Messias turned provider into scorer himself, getting on the end of a Stephan El Shaarawy pass to make it 2-0. Youssef Maleh's free-kick on 40 minutes gave Lecce something to work with, but the hosts never found the second goal that would have forced a different kind of finish.
Lecce actually finished with more of the ball, 52.9% to 47.1%, and more shots on target, seven to three, but could not turn that pressure into a leveller. They were also the more undisciplined side, conceding 19 fouls to Genoa's nine, without either team picking up a red card on an afternoon that stayed open and nervy for Genoa right to the final whistle.
Messias, twenty years after his first club in Italy
Junior Messias is 35, and his goal and assist at the Via del Mare came more than two decades into a career that started a long way from Serie A's upper reaches. He won the Scudetto with AC Milan in 2021-22 before a permanent move to Genoa in January 2024, and under Daniele De Rossi he has become exactly the kind of experienced presence a relegation fight needs — on this evidence, still capable of deciding games on his own.
Two sides short of results
Both clubs arrived with recent form to forget. Lecce had lost four of their last five, including a 5-1 defeat at Frosinone the matchday before, with their only win in that stretch a 3-0 success over Udinese. Genoa's own run had been patchy too, but they had at least found a win in their previous outing, 2-0 at home to Juventus, and carried that confidence into Lecce.
What's next
Lecce had gone into the match 14th on 9 points from nine games and stay on 9 after the defeat, still without a draw all season. Genoa had gone in 13th on 10 points from nine games; the win takes them to 13 points from ten, a third straight victory that eases the pressure near the bottom of the table.
| Stat | Lecce | Genoa |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 52.9% | 47.1% |
| Shots on target | 7 | 3 |
| Passes completed | 307/396 (77.5%) | 273/367 (74.4%) |
| Corners | 6 | 3 |
| Fouls conceded | 19 | 9 |
| Offsides | 1 | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 1 |
Match facts
- 11' — Milutin Osmajic (Genoa), assisted by Junior Messias
- 28' — Junior Messias (Genoa), assisted by Stephan El Shaarawy
- 40' — Youssef Maleh (Lecce), free-kick
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