Despite being a man down, Genoa managed to pick up an incredibly important win over a toothless Torino side tonight.
The Rossoblu are desperately fighting to avoid relegation and they came into this match on 19 points, far behind 17th place Cagliari who hold 25. Alexander Blessin’s side have picked up an incredible 16 draws so far this campaign, but it’s clear that they needed to be more clinical if they wanted to avoid slipping into the second tier.
Genoa took an early lead thanks to Manolo Portanova, who found the back of the net in the 14th minute after a defensive disaster class by Torino. The importance of the goal was felt with the 21-year-old Italian’s shouts during his celebration.
Only 10 minutes later and things looked grim for the Ligurian side after Leo Skirir Ostigard picked up a silly second yellow to end his evening early, giving the Granata serious boost.
Despite the man advantage, Torino were mostly toothless in their possession, dominating the ball but barely having more chances than Genoa. They completed over 650 passes compared to the Rossoblu’s 217, a sign of the territorial dominance held by Ivan Juric’s side.
Genoa held on strong however, rising to the occasion and fighting with their hearts on their sleeves as they picked up their third win of the season. The Grifone secured their first win since September 12, a key result in their desperate bid to avoid relegation.
Respect!
It wasn’t a second yellow, it was a shameless dive from Izzo