Final score

13 December 2011 20:45

Genoa
0 - 1
Inter
22' (2nd half) Nagatomo
Referee: Luca Banti / Linesmen: Petrella, De Luca / Fourth official: Guida
Watch highlights
Minute Text commentary
49' After 4 minutes of added time the first half of Genoa v Inter ends goalless
48' Inter looking dangerous. After a corner is cleared, Zanetti plays a long ball out to Lucio on the left side of the area. His first time cross is met by Nagatomo, who can only get a knee to it, the ball bouncing through the six-yard box and wide
46' Constant whips in a cross from the byline, Julio Cesar punches clear at the near post with Rossi lurking
45' Banti has awarded 4 minutes of added time
41' Motta takes it: straight into Frey's arms
40' Veloso makes an unfair challenge on Pazzini as the striker is lining up his sights: the shot is wide but Inter have a free kick
36' Milito is heading towards goal when he's pushed to the ground by Granqvist. Inexplicably, the ref sees nothing wrong with that!
34' Enterprising work from Milito as he gets to the byline and earns a corner. When the cross comes in, Samuel heads goalwards: saved. The ball falls for Milito whose effort is on target but straight at Frey
31' Poli has a shot but it's some way off target
27' Inter break as Lucio drives forward with the ball then looks to spread play for Milito on the wing, the move breaks down because the striker can't reach it
26' Rossi is almost in on goal but Lucio clears
21' Ze Eduardo is offside
21' Julio Cesar gets on the end of a ball from Granqvist
14' Nagatomo gets past Rossi on the wing and knocks in a cross; Granqvist clears
12' Pazzini receives the ball and lays off first touch for Milito; the Prince goes for goal and his shot is deflected behind by Kaladze
8' Motta threads a ball through the Genoa defence for Pazzini but the striker is flagged offside
1' Welcome to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa. We're all set for the Nerazzurri's rescheduled Week 11 fixture, which will be kicking off in around half an hour
1' Genoa v Inter begins as the Nerazzurri take the kick-off. FORZA INTER!!!
1' Milito and Motta are lining up against their former club at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris for the first time
1' Zanetti returns after serving his one-match suspension, while Andrea Poli - who used to play for Genoa's city rivals Sampdoria - is set to make his full debut in midfield
Minute Text commentary
50' The ref blows the final whistle after 5 minutes of added time and Genoa v Inter finishes 0-1. The Nerazzurri move up to 7th on 20 points
49' Genoa twice close to an equaliser: first Rossi's powerful goalbound effort is blocked by Nagatomo's head; then from the rebound Veloso's venomous drive is tipped over by Julio Cesar
47' Motta feeds Pazzini, who makes a yard of space and shoots: Frey denies the striker with his fists
45' Banti signals 5 minutes of stoppage time
43' Forlan shoots left-footed, Frey saves
43' Alvarez sees Forlan diagonal run behind the defence but his through ball is overhit and Frey can collect
42' Genoa look dangerous as they break forward but Lucio slides in on Pratto to win the ball
37' Final substitution for Ranieri: Forlan makes his long-awaited return with Milito coming off
33' Great play by Alvarez. He collects the ball on the halfway line and carries it forward before releasing a swerving 30-yard drive: post!
30' Change for Genoa: Caracciolo comes on for Merkel
28' Pratto is booked for kicking the ball away after being called offside
27' Pazzini crosses from the right: Milito can't reach it
25' Nagatomo starts a move on the left wing and switches play for Milito on the opposite flank; the Argentine looks for Pazzini but Frey is there
24' Substitution for Inter: Obi replaces Poli
22' GOAL FOR INTER! Alvarez cuts inside from the right and curls in a deep inswinging cross to the far post, where Nagatomo pops up to head home
16' Alvarez is booked
15' Genoa substitution: Constant makes way for Jankovic
12' Kaladze is booked
11' Veloso swings in a free kick from wide on the left, Granqvist leaps at the far post and heads home but it won't count: offside
7' Pratto's cross is no problem for Julio Cesar
6' Genoa make their first change: Ze Eduardo comes off, Pratto comes on
1' The second half is now under way
1' One change for Inter at the start of the second half: Alvarez is on for Faraoni
Zanetti
7.23
7.23
Cambiasso
6.7
6.7
Julio Cesar
8.26
8.26
Samuel
7.47
7.47
Milito
4.86
4.86
Motta
6.51
6.51
Obi
6.56
6.56
Lucio
7.29
7.29
Pazzini
5.5
5.5
Nagatomo
8.39
8.39
Faraoni
6.47
6.47
Alvarez
7.44
7.44
Poli
6.73
6.73
Forlan
6.89
6.89
Average rating 6.88
3 shots on target 8
2 shots off target 7
12 fouls committed 15
6 corners 4
7 offsides 5
44% ball possession 56%
Malesani v Ranieri: the Genoa coach undefeated at home

This is the seventh competitive meeting between the two coaches, with a record of 1 win for Malesani, and 3 draws and 2 wins for Ranieri. In the 3 home matches for Malesani his teams have never lost and have 1 victory and 2 draws.

Malesani, winless against the Nerazzuri since 2000

Alberto Malesani takes on Inter for the 21st time in his coaching career with a record of 5 wins, 5 draws and 10 losses to the Nerazzurri. Malesani has not beaten Inter since 29 November 2000 in the Coppa Italia when his Parma came out on top 6-1. In the following 10 matches Malesani's teams have drawn 3 times and lost 7 times, with 4 of these defeats coming in the last 4 matches.

Ranieri ahead on wins, with his teams always scoring

This is the 14th competitive match between Ranieri and Genoa and currently the Nerazzurri coach boasts a record of 9 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats. In these 13 previous matches Ranieri's teams have always found the net, for a total of 29 goals scored.

Golden December for Ranieri

With a record of 24 wins, 14 draws and 9 defeats in 47 matches in professional leagues, and an average of 1.83 points per game, December is a golden month for Claudio Ranieri. It is the month in which his teams produce their best results.

Ranieri's return to the Marassi: on 20 February he resigned from Roma

Claudio Ranieri returns to the Marassi, where on 20 February his Roma astoundingly lost a match 3-4 after earlier being up 3-0. At the end of the match against the "Grifone" Ranieri turned in his resignation to the Giallorossi.

Inter, a goal scored in last 11 away matches

Inter has scored in the last 11 consecutive away matches, for a total of 18 goals. The last scoreless away game for the Nerazzurri came on 16 April in a 0-2 league loss to Parma.

Genoa, 1 goal away from their 100th against the Nerazzurri

Genoa currently sit with 99 goals in competitive matches against Inter. The first of these goals goes back to 26 January 1930 when the Nerazzurri won 4-1 in the Serie A in Genoa. The goal for the Rossoblu was scored by Elvio Banchero in the 60th minute.

Genoa, goalless at home against Inter for 275 minutes

Genoa have not scored against Inter in a competitive home match since 19 March 2008 when, in the Serie A, they drew 1-1. The goalscorer for the Rossoblu was Borriello in the 85th minute. The total 275 minutes without a goal at home are made up as such; the remaining 5 minutes of the aforementioned match, along with the full league matches won by Inter: 2-0 in the 2008/09 season, 5-0 in the 2009/10 season and 1-0 in the 2010/11 season.

Malesani hunting his 100th Serie A victory

Alberto Malesani will be hunting for his 100th win as a coach in the Serie A after having reached his 99th after last Saturday's victory in Siena. Malesani, who has 287 matches as a coach in the top division, has a record of 81 draws and 107 losses. He won his first match as a coach on 31 August 1997: Udinese 2-3 Fiorentina.

DA IMPLEMENTARE
wins(19) draws(24) defeats(28)

GENOA - On the pitch for the three points but first of all for the families who were hit by the flash floods on 4 November. Last month's tragedy was in everybody's minds as the rescheduled Week 11 match between Genoa and Inter took place this evening. After a goalless first half, in which Milito's unlucky spell in front of goal continued, Genoa had a goal ruled out in the second half before Nagatomo scored for the second game running to earn the Nerazzurri the 3 points.

FIRST HALF – Former Genoa players Milito and Thiago Motta returned to play in their ex-stadium for the first time since joining the Nerazzurri two years ago. Another player returning to his former stomping ground was one-time Sampdoria midfielder Andrea Poli, who made his full debut for Inter at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Faraoni made his third consecutive start. For Genoa, Ze Eduardo played as a lone striker.

After a quiet start to the game, in the 8th minute Motta played a useful ball in behind the defence for Pazzini, who was a fraction offside. Five minutes later Pazzini laid off for Milito, whose shot was deflected behind by Kaladze. Faraoni was full of energy once again, running and pushing forward: he earned a corner after a quarter of an hour but got fouled by Constant in the process, remaining down injured for a few minutes. Genoa's main threat seemed to be in long balls for Ze Eduardo; after cutting out one such ball, Lucio bounded forward with the ball at his feet and tried to spread play to Milito but the move broke down as the Prince couldn't quite reach it (27 minutes). Some good work by Milito earned a corner in the 33rd minute which Faraoni went over to take: Samuel got on the end of it and powered a header goalwards, Frey made a great save and the ball fell for Lucio again; the Brazilian touched on for Milito but the Prince's luck was again lacking: his clean strike from 5 yards out went straight into Frey's arms. The Argentine had another good chance on 37 minutes when he latched onto a ball over the top and was bearing down on goal when Granqvist pushed him from behind: Banti chose not to use his whistle for what was a clear goal-scoring opportunity. As the first half entered four minutes of added time, Constant got to the byline and whipped in a dangerous cross to the near post looking for Rossi, but Julio Cesar was on hand to punch clear. And there was still time for perhaps the best move of the half. Following a corner, Zanetti's long ball back in found Lucio on the right and the centre-half stretched to centre first time; Nagatomo connected but only with his thigh and the ball bounced through the six-yard box and wide of the far post. The first half ended 0-0.

SECOND HALF -  The second half began with Alvarez replacing Faraoni. A foul by Zanetti in the 55th minute gave Genoa a free kick on the left wing near the byline: Veloso curled it in and Granqvist nodded home at the far post but the goal was chalked off for offside - a close call, but the defender was ahead of Lucio when the free kick was taken. On 67 minutes the deadlock at the Marassi was broken by another header, this time from Nagatomo. Alvarez curled in a delightful ball and the Japanese defender ghosted past Mesto at the far post to score his second in as many games, and his second against Genoa out of his four total goals. On 72 minutes Pazzini hoped to pick out Milito with a cross but the Argentine couldn't quite get there. Alvarez did it all by himself in the 79th minute: after playing a one-two near the halfway line, he advanced 20 yards before releasing a swerving shot from all of 30 yards, which frustratingly came back off the post. Milito came off on 81 minutes, allowing Diego Forlan to make his return after a two-month layoff. The Uruguayan immediately started making up for lost time, going for goal five minutes after coming on, but Frey was alert. There was a moment of panic in injury time as two good chances for an equaliser fell to the home side in a matter of seconds: Nagatomo saved Julio Cesar's goal with his head and then Veloso's powerful shot from the edge of the box was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Julio Cesar. It was a save worth two points for Inter, who claimed victory after five minutes of added time. Inter move up to 20 points in the table.

Genoa 0-1 Inter (HT: 0-0)
Scorer: Nagatomo 22.

Genoa: 1 Frey; 3 Dainelli, 5 Granqvist, 13 Kaladze, 24 Moretti; 20 Mesto, 7 Rossi, 4 Veloso, 52 Merkel (Caracciolo 75), 27 Constant (Jankovic 60); 9 Ze Eduardo (Pratto 51).
Unused subs: 22 Lupatelli, 14 Seymour, 19 Jorquera, 32 Marchiori.
Coach: Alberto Malesani.

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 4 Zanetti, 6 Lucio, 25 Samuel, 55 Nagatomo; 37 Faraoni (Alvarez 46), 8 Thiago Motta, 19 Cambiasso, 18 Poli (Obi 69); 22 Milito (Forlan 81), 7 Pazzini.
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 2 Cordoba, 28 Zarate, 77 Muntari.
Coach: Claudio Ranieri.

Booked: Kaladze 57, Alvarez 61, Pratto 73.
Added time: 4 + 5 minutes.

starting lineups

Frey 1 Julio Cesar
Dainelli 4 Zanetti
Granqvist 6 Lucio
Kaladze 25 Samuel
Moretti 55 Nagatomo
Mesto 37 Faraoni
Rossi 8 Motta
Veloso 19 Cambiasso
Constant 18 Poli
Merkel 22 Milito
Ze Eduardo 7 Pazzini

substitutes

Lupatelli 12 Castellazzi
Pratto 2 Cordoba
Jankovic 9 Forlan
Seymur 11 Alvarez
Jorquera 20 Obi
Marchiori 28 Zarate
Caracciolo 77 Muntari