De Gea delivers as Fiorentina edge Genoa to move into Serie A's top four
Genoa signed Mario Balotelli on Monday to bolster an attack that had only netted seven times in the league before tonight.
And when Aaron Martin’s free-kick and Stefano Sabelli’s strike both went the wrong side of the woodwork in the opening quarter of the match, Genoa fans were left wondering what might have been, had the former Premier League winner been fit to play.
The visitors, meanwhile, made four changes to the side that thrashed Roma 5-1 at the weekend and looked a shadow of the side that had scored 15 times in its previous three in all competitions.
The relatively simple task of punching away a long-range Amir Richardson shot was the only test for home goalkeeper Nicola Leali in the first half. Yet, a Jeff Ekhator effort trickling wide at the other end meant that David de Gea wasn’t particularly busy either.
Hoping for an improvement in finishing after half-time, it took Genoa three minutes to show that little had changed, when Ekhator did well to get in behind Lucas Martinez Quarta and latch onto a through ball, only to skew his powerful strike wide with only De Gea to beat.
That chance was the outlier in a half dominated by La Viola, who were struggling to turn their pressure into clear opportunities.
That was the case until the match entered its final 18 minutes when the visitors finally made their purple patch count.
After good work on the right, Lucas Beltran swung a cross into a crowded penalty area, where the late-arriving Robin Gosens fought hardest to bring the ball under his spell and prod it past Leali.
Alberto Gilardino’s men made a positive response, but two efforts on goal from Andrea Pinamonti in the next eight minutes were kept out by impressive reaction stops from De Gea.
Raffaele Palladino’s side also had their goalkeeper to thank for the result though, as De Gea was at full stretch to keep out Martinez Quarta’s stoppage-time header.
That secured a fourth league win in a row for Fiorentina, and a sixth in all competitions, while Genoa have now lost back-to-back home matches against the men from Florence for the first time.
Flashscore Man of the Match: David de Gea (Fiorentina)