15 December 2023
Juventus and Genoa played out a 1-1 draw at the Luigi Ferraris stadium in Matchday 16 of Serie A. Federico Chiesa opened the scoring from the penalty spot after the number 7 had been brought down by home goalkeeper Josep Martinez.
Immediately after the interval Genoa equalised through Albert Gudmundsson, his second goal in as many games against Juventus.
In the cup-tie atmosphere of Marassi, the highly contested match brought a flurry of bookings but no further goals.
THE MATCH
On what was a homecoming for Andrea Cambiaso it was fitting that the Genoa-born talent found himself at the centre of Juventus’ first foray into Grifone territory. With a quarter of an hour played, the 23-year-old burst over the halfway line and forced his way into the heart of the hosts’ penalty area.
A clever backheel picked out Federico Chiesa, who lashed a shot from a tight angle towards the near post which Josep Martinez parried for a corner.
The Juve winger and Genoa goalkeeper would clash again in the turning point of the first half.
On 22 minutes, Chiesa then delivered a cross that made its way through to Dusan Vlahovic at the edge of the six-yard box. The number 9 swept his shot over the bar from close range.
The Bianconeri front-two linked up again five minutes later when Genoa were caught dallying in possession inside their own half. Vlahovic fed Chiesa, whose attempt to round Gonzalez saw the keeper swipe the feet from under the Biaconeri forward.
Chiesa took the honours from the spot, dispatching the penalty into the bottom corner for his first goal in 11 matches.
Genoa looked to get back on level terms before the break. With 10 minutes of the opening period remaining, Johan Vazquez crashed a shot just over the bar from a corner. With the break looming, the Mexico international then cut the ball back from the byeball line, but Albert Gudmundsson misshit from a promising position.
Alberto Gilardino introduced Caleb Ekuban for the restart and the coach’s decision to bolster his attack brought about an immediate reaction from his team.
Ekuban used his strength to hold off Bremer’s challenge and find Gudmundsson inside the area. The Icelandic forward’s volley left Wojciech Szczesny no chance.
Martinez then almost gifted Juve a way back to restore their lead immediately. The keeper’s pass out of defence was intercepted by Chiesa, whose attempt to round the Spanish stopper was halted by a one-handed block.
Martinez also used just one glove to cut out a dangerous Cambiaso cross as Juventus tried to use the width of the pitch to break down the home defence for a second time. However, the Rossoblù backline was holding firmly.
In the final minute of normal time, the Bianconeri crafted one last outstanding chance.
A cross was played into the heart of the Genoa penalty area. When the ball reached Bremer the defender appeared to need to the merest contact to knock the ball into the net. However, Martinez backpedalled to acrobatically tip the ball from underneath his crossbar.
Juventus continued their unbeaten run, but for the first time after 56 games failed to collect all three points after taking the lead - when they last visited the home of Genoa in May, 2022.
GENOA 1-1 JUVENTUS (HT: 0-1)
Scorers: 28′ Chiesa (pen), 48′ Gudmundsson
GENOA: Martinez; Dragusin, Bani, De Winter; Sabelli (84′ Vogliacco), Malinovskyi, Badelj, Frendrup, Vasquez (46′ Ekuban); Gudmundsson, Messias (90+3′ Haps). Subs not used: Leali, Sommaria, Thorsby, Martin, Jagiello, Kutlu, Matturro, Hefti, Puscas, Fini, Galdames. Coach: Gilardino.
JUVENTUS: Szczęsny; Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Cambiaso (88′ Yildiz), McKennie, Locatelli, Miretti (74′ Iling Jr), Kostic (68′ Weah); Vlahovic (68′ Milik), Chiesa. Subs not used: Perin, Pinsoglio, Alex Sandro, Huijsen, Rugani, Nicolussi C., Nonge. Coach: Allegri.
Referee: Massa
Bookings: 61′ Danilo, 70′ McKennie, 71′ Milik, 74′ Badelj, 90′ Malinovskyi
