Inter drop points against Genoa despite rare Arnautovic strike
A solid draw with Juventus before Christmas provided the blueprint for Genoa’s early approach, as they stifled their visitors and refused to live up to one of their more infamous nicknames – the ‘Old Fool’.
An eight-minute delay on the quarter-hour mark, due to an excess of flare smoke spilling onto the pitch, then threatened to kill Genoa’s early rhythm, but the restart instead saw a rare defensive mistake from Inter, which allowed Caleb Ekuban and Albert Gudmundsson to break through the lines. Only a series of panicked headed clearances from Ekuban’s attempted cross to the Icelander prevented Genoa from taking a shock lead.
With Inter suitably awakened, Hakan Calhanoglu tested Josep Martinez via a searing volley from the edge of the box before Inter went ahead on 42 minutes in fortuitous fashion. A throw-in from Matteo Darmian fell to Nicolo Barella inside the box, and though his shot was tipped onto the post by Martinez, the ball fell to Arnautović from inches out, allowing him to tap in his maiden Serie A goal with Inter.
However, there was to be a twist during nine minutes of added first-half time, as a Gudmundsson corner into the mixer found Radu Drăgușin, who headed in at the far post despite Yann Sommer getting more than half a glove on the ball.
Predictably, Inter started the second half on top, and Arnautovic came inches away from doubling his money shortly after the restart, taking a shaving of paint off the left-hand post with a vicious half-volley via a knockdown on the break. Back came Genoa though, as an unmarked Gudmundsson sent a header via a corner kick straight at Sommer.
He would soon lose strike partner Ekuban through injury though, and with Genoa boss Alberto Gilardino making three substitutes to his counterpart’s zero by the hour mark, there was always a fear that Inter’s superior depth might ultimately tell.
Perhaps sensing this, Martinez had to be on full alert at the three-quarter mark, as Calhanoglu found Francesco Acerbi with a free-kick. The latter’s header forced a point-blank save low at the far post, though a corner immediately at the other end proved nervy for Sommer, as the game began to open up.
Eventually, the Inter subs made their awaited appearance, but the first of them – Alexis Sanchez for Arnautovic – failed to make much of an impact. If anything, it was Genoa who ended proceedings with a greater sense of purpose, as Dragusin sent a header just the wrong side of Sommer’s far post after meeting a long-range free-kick.
In the end, Genoa were well worth a draw, and duly ended the night seven points clear of danger, after breaching Inter in a home game for the first time in five attempts. Meanwhile, despite still being the only team in the division yet to lose on their travels (W7, D2), Inter could see their lead slashed to two points in the coming days.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Albert Gudmundsson (Genoa)
