Alessandro Vogliacco nets late to earn Genoa point against Como
Given that they had conceded first in all seven of their preceding league games on the road, it was a surprise to see Como start off confidently, as Gabriel Strefezza found himself thwarted by a Nicola Leali save in the 10th minute.
That was a warning Genoa failed to heed, and a careless turnover in possession by Andrea Pinamonti allowed Como to ping passes around the edge of the box. With enough space to get a shot away after receiving Nico Paz’s pass, Da Cunha unloaded with a low drive to give Como their just reward.
Already the signs were ominous for a Genoa lead that had the league’s second-worst goal tally ahead of kickoff, and they didn’t really show any sort of spark until just after the half-hour mark.
A brace of chances came and went; firstly, Aaron Martín beat his man inside the box and lashed a shot towards the right side of the goal, drawing a great save from Pepe Reina, before Pinamonti narrowly missed with a header.
It was more of the same after the break, with Como keeping possession and Genoa left with a futile mission to try and craft a sustainable way back into the game. Pinamonti let fly with a thunderbolt from the edge of the area near to the mark, but it was too close to Reina to trouble him.
Patrick Cutrone then looked to have put the game out of sight, after Paz found him on the angle bearing down on goal. Cutrone found the opposite corner of Leali’s net, but a VAR review deemed him to be offside, giving Genoa a lifeline.
Genoa needed a maverick presence to try and salvage something, and Mario Balotelli replaced Jeff Ekhator with around 15 minutes of normal time remaining. However, the latter minutes of this lower-end clash were more memorable for cards than goals, with Balotelli himself accounting for one of three yellow cards flashed in a short space of time, as Il Grifone became increasingly fraught in front of their despairing fans.
Sensing victory was within their grasp, Como ended the night doing what they had done all evening – knocking the ball around with zip and composure.
But that was all undone in one fell swoop, as the 92nd minute saw a ball into the box flicked on by Pinamonti to Vogliacco, who struck unmarked at the far post to prevent Como from going four points clear of danger. Genoa, once more, snatched a result from the jaws of death – though it’s now just one win in 10 league outings for Il Grifone.