Genoa defeats Palermo with last gasp goal

Genoa's dream season continues as the club now stands fourth in the Serie A table following a 1-0 victory over Palermo at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. The victory was far from easy as Sicilian squad put forth a brilliant effort and as the match appeared to ending in nil draw before Domenico Criscito nudged in the ball from close range with two minutes remaining.

As the match began it was obvious Davide Ballardini's tactical plan was for his Rosanero to controlling the run of play and otherwise thwart the normally flourishing Genoa attack. For the first twenty minutes the plan worked like a charm but quickly thereafter, the Rossoblu began to assert their home ground advantage. Serbian international Boško Janković's provision to Salvatore Bocchetti dealt with by Palermo 'keeper Marco Amelia. Genoa's efforts continued with Domenico Criscito clanging the post soon after before the Boško Janković acrobatic effort was held back by the Palermo 'keeper once again. Nearing the fiftieth minute Diego Milito goal bound effort was stopped by Simon Kjaer and it seemed the Sicilian nets were impenetrable. Before the hour Fábio Simplício nodded Giulio Migliaccio's cross but Rubinho rose to the occasion with a spectacular save. The match seemed destined to head to draw before Domenico Criscito nudged in Boško Janković's cross for the winning goal. The visitors complained that it should have been waived off as offside but referee Matteo Trefoloni would hear nothing of the sort.

After a heated discussion in which Fábio Simplício and Boško Janković renewed their friendship the match concluded as a 1-0 victory. In fact it concluded twice as after four minutes of added time was called for, the final whistle was blown two minutes in. Realizing the error before the celebrations went too far the match re-started and while a bit on edge it ended again 1-0.

Genoa returns to action next Sunday against Roma.

Genoa v Palermo match preview

Following Wednesday's draw against AC Milan, Genoa finds itself solidified in fourth place of the Serie A table on the avails of a nine match unbeaten streak. However as Palermo visits Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday they will equally be dealing with a side in the midst of a upswing as they won their opening three matches in January before falling to Roma on Wednesday.

Under Davide Ballardini, the Rosanero have continuously showed inspired play but that should not be a surprise given the tactical genius he showed whilst leading Cagliari last season. There attacking trident of Australian international Mark Bresciano and São Paulo product Fábio Simplício, service Edison Cavani into one the more intriguing units. This could change considerably as they might move from their preferred to 4-3-2-1 formation into more defensive positioning. One option that lays in their managers bag of tricks is use of a counter attack laden 3-5-2 that he has used in the past and rumoured to be considering but that remains to be seen.

For the match Gian Piero Gasperini welcomes back key defender Matteo Ferrari from the sin-bin but will miss Thiago Motta, Andrea Gasbarroni, Matteo Paro, Alessio Scarpi and Alessandro Potenza to injury. With the continued solid play of its attacking group Grifone will go forward with Giuseppe Sculli, Diego Milito and former Crvena zvezda man Boško Janković up top.

Finally, in what might be the biggest clue of the match, Genoa has yet to lose a match at home this year whilst Palermo has only won once away from their beautiful Sicilian home. Given that Roma is playing troubled Reggina and the same time and only one point behind Genoa, a victory is an absolute must if they are to maintain their position in the table.

Diego Milito and Bosko Jankovic to the Rossoblu

Gian Piero Gasperini struck with precision on the final day of the transfer window brining Argentine Diego Milito back to the Rossoblu from Real Zaragoza. With a fee of €8m, Diego returns to Stadio Luigi Ferraris where he had great success after leaving Racing Club in 2003.

In addition to this and possibly the hidden gem of the day, Genoa brought in Serbian international Boško Janković from Palermo. Boško is a superb midfielder who had difficult time last season but I remember quite well from seeing him early in his career at Red Star Belgrade. He has a keen eye on the attack and if given the "green-light" to push forward could have a dramatic impact on the attack.