Frattesi's strike sinks wasteful Genoa as Lazio takes all three points

One goal was all Lazio needed to walk away with the three points at the Stadio Olimpico. Davide Frattesi finished with his left foot in the 24th minute, and that goal, set up by Nuno Tavares, proved enough to seal a 1-0 win over a Genoa side that couldn't find a way to level the score despite holding more of the ball for long stretches of the match.

The start was even, with fouls breaking up the rhythm from the opening minute, though Lazio came closer to goal. In the 10th minute, Danilho Doekhi headed a corner kick just wide on the right side. Shortly after, Nuno Tavares tried his luck twice from outside the box: first a shot that was blocked, then one that sailed over the bar. Genoa also threatened with a shot from Lorenzo Colombo that was blocked, but it was Lazio that broke through: in the 24th minute, Frattesi popped up in the middle of the box to finish left-footed off a Tavares cross and make it 1-0.

The home side kept pushing before halftime. In the 44th minute, a header from Tavares off a Frattesi assist crashed off the right post, the clearest chance to extend the lead before the break. The first half ended with that narrow 1-0 scoreline, leaving the impression that Lazio had been the more clinical side despite seeing less of the ball.

A scoreless second half

Genoa took more control of the ball in the second half, helped by the introductions of Junior Messias and Milutin Osmajic, but they lacked a finishing touch. Mattia Zaccagni and Gustav Isaksen tried their luck for Lazio without success, while the visitors created chances through Vitinha, Ethan Meichtry and Brooke Norton-Cuffy, the latter firing a shot just past the crossbar in the 83rd minute. In stoppage time, Milutin Osmajic and Morten Frendrup had Genoa's last two chances with headers, but both ended up in the keeper's hands or off target, and the score stayed put.

The stats point to a closely contested match overall, though Lazio was sharper in the final third:

Genoa controlled more of the ball and completed more passes, but Lazio took more shots and created the clearer chances. According to our xG estimate based on the shots taken in the match, Lazio generated 1.929 expected goals to Genoa's 0.742, a gap that backs up the final result beyond the narrow scoreline.

Our preview ahead of the match gave Lazio a 47% chance of victory, a 31% chance of a draw and a 22% chance of a Genoa win, with combined expected goals of 2.28 (1.40 for Lazio and 0.88 for Genoa). The final result, decided by a single goal, fell within that range: Lazio was the favorite and came away with the win, even if the scoreline ended up tighter than those numbers suggested.

With this win, Lazio moves to 6 points from 2 matches played, with a record of 2 wins and no losses, sitting just 6 points clear of Genoa in the table. The visitors, meanwhile, remain without a point through 2 outings, an early stumble with plenty of the season still left to turn things around. At the Olimpico, it was a reminder that you don't always need to control the ball to take home three points: sometimes a clinical finish and refusing to let up in the closing minutes is enough.