Genoa 3-2 Lille: Late Sculli Goal Gives Grifoni Revenge Against Visitors

Genoa welcomed Lille on the fourth matchday of Group B of the Europa League in an encounter they needed to win at all costs. The Grifoni were in third place in the table with just three points. They also wanted revenge after losing their first match against the French side 3-0 a fortnight ago.

The visitors started the match as the better side, and in the ninth minute there was a chance for Ludovic Obraniak, whose shot from inside the area on a cross from the right went just wide.

However, it was Genoa who opened the scoring on their first chance in the 14th minute, as Rodrigo Palacio met a cross by Zapater and beat goalkeeper Mickael Landreau to make it 1-0 to the home side.

The Grifoni were galvanised by this goal and two minutes later they came close to adding a second, as Zapater again looked for Palacio with a long ball, but Landreau came off his line superbly to clear it away.

The Argentinean striker made himself dangerous again in the 28th minute, when he fired the ball just over the crossbar with a shot from outside the area.

Palacio’s countryman Hernan Crespo had a quiet first half but in the 38th minute he fired a dangerous shot from inside the area that went just wide.

That was the last chance of the first half, which saw Genoa take a deserved 1-0 lead into the dressing room.

No changes were made during the break by either team.

Just before the hour mark, Crespo scored the second goal for the hosts after a balanced start to the second half, as he poked the ball in from a corner kick move following a series of rebounds.

After this second goal, Lille started to become more dangerous, and just five minutes later Dumont came close to scoring with a header that went just wide.

In the 69th minute Palacio went close to making it 3-0 to the home side with a volley on a cross by Raffaele Palladino that just failed to hit the mark.

However, seven minutes later the visitors made it 2-1, as substitute Pierre-Alain Frau scored with a shot on a corner kick.

It was only a matter of time before the equaliser came as Genoa started playing very defensively after that. In the 84th minute they were punished as another substitute, Gervinho, worked his way inside the area and fired a shot that was deflected past Alessio Scarpi by Nenad Tomovic.

The home side started attacking furiously after this, and in the 93rd minute they found a winner, as Giuseppe Sculli fired a precise diagonal shot on an assist by Palladino to make it 3-2.

Thanks to this result Genoa are now well back in the race for qualification. Lille still top Group B with 7 points, Valencia and Genoa are tied on 6 points, while Slavia Prague are bottom with 2.

Danilo Pochini, Goal.com