Ruslan Malinovskyi saw another left-foot special cancelled out by Matteo Cancellieri, as Empoli held Genoa to a 1-1 draw at Marassi.
The good news for the Grifone was the return of Mateo Retegui and Junior Messias, but Albert Gudmundsson, Mattia Bani and Kevin Strootman were out of action. The visitors missed Tommaso Baldanzi, Giuseppe Pezzella and Gabriele Guarino after a dramatic 4-3 defeat to Sassuolo.
Stefano Sabelli scuffed a volley wide of the back post relatively unmarked in the opening minute, followed soon after by Nicolò Cambiaghi ballooning over on the chest and half-volley.
Daniel Maldini drilled wide after skipping past two and Retegui’s diving header sent a Junior Messias cross over from 12 yards.
Messias went for goal himself with a volley into the ground that bounced up and thumped the crossbar on the half-hour mark.
Genoa took the lead when Ruslan Malinovskyi took a touch from Milan Badelj’s pass outside the area and sent a trademark left-foot daisy-cutter into the far bottom corner.
After the restart, Morten Frendrup saw his header charged down in the penalty area, but Empoli equalised with two substitutes combining.
Viktor Kovalenko whipped a cross from the right to the back post for the free header from Matteo Cancellieri, just moments after he stepped onto the pitch.
Genoa lost Johan Vasquez to a split lip after a clash of heads, then Berkan Kutlu’s scuffed attempt turned into an assist that Seydou Fini drilled inches wide. With the last kick of the game, Retegui couldn’t keep his header down at the far post.
Genoa 1-1 Empoli
Malinovskyi 37 (G), Cancellieri 67 (E)
Player statistic
| 13' |  |
Filippo Ranocchia | ||
| Ruslan Malinovskyi (Assist: Milan Badelj) |
 |
37' |
| Ruslan Malinovskyi | |
56' | ||
| 67' | |
Matteo Cancellieri (Assist: Viktor Kovalenko) | ||
| Alessandro Vogliacco | |
86' | ||
| Milan Badelj | |
90+2' |
Match statistic
