Genoa holds off late Lecce surge to take all three points (1-2) at the Via del Mare

Ten minutes. That's how long it took Genoa to get ahead at the Via del Mare, and before Lecce could even react the score was already 0-2. In the end the final result held at 1-2 in Genoa's favor, though the last half hour saw Lecce come close to equalizing and, more than anything, left them protesting a goal that was wiped off the board by VAR.

Genoa wrote the script of the first half without much trouble. In the 10th minute, Milutin Osmajic finished with his right foot from the center of the box after an assist from Junior Messias to make it 0-1. Lecce had barely had time to cause a scare with a Nikola Stulic header that grazed the crossbar, and the blow landed anyway. The second goal, in the 27th minute, came from a slicker combination: Stephan El Shaarawy set up Messias, who finished low with his left foot, tight to the post, for 0-2.

Lecce didn't fold. Before the break, in the 39th minute, Youssef Maleh pulled one back with a direct free kick, also struck low with his left foot and close to the post, making it 1-2 at halftime. The closing stretch of the first half had an extra twist: deep into stoppage time, Stulic thought he had scored the equalizer, but after a VAR review the goal was ruled out and the score stayed at 1-2 going into the break.

A second half of pressure without reward

In the second half, Lecce pushed hard: shots from Antonino Gallo, Youssef Maleh and Amar Fatah that missed the target, plus a strike from Stephan El Shaarawy that, from Genoa's side of things, came back off the right post. The big chances tally (four for Genoa against one for Lecce) goes a long way toward explaining how tight the result stayed despite the home side's dominance of the ball.

The match stats tell an interesting story: Lecce had more possession, more shots and more corners, but Genoa was more clinical when it mattered.

According to our xG estimate calculated from the match's shots, Genoa generated 1.975 expected goals to Lecce's 1.617, a small gap that lines up with how tight the final score was, though the visiting side ended up getting more out of its chances.

Our preview published ahead of the match gave Genoa a 39% chance of winning, 34% for a draw and 27% for Lecce, with total expected goals of 2.04. The final result, with three goals and an away win, fell within that range: Genoa was the favorite and ended up taking all three points, though Lecce made them pay a high price for the win right up to the end.

What it means in the standings

In the table, Genoa came into this match in 11th place with 13 points from 10 games played (4 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses), while Lecce sat in 14th with 9 points from the same number of appearances (3 wins, no draws and 7 losses). The gap between the two sides before this match was just 4 points, and today's win lets Genoa stretch that distance a bit further over a Lecce side that continues to struggle near the bottom of the table.

The match, part of Serie A, confirmed what the preview had suggested: an evenly matched contest on paper that ultimately came down to the visitors' efficiency. Lecce is left with the feeling of having produced the greater volume of play, plus the grievance of Stulic's disallowed goal, but the scoreboard never moved from the 1-2 with which Genoa sealed all three points at the Via del Mare.