Hosts Genoa took on AS Roma last night with Andriy Shevchenko making his Serie A debut as a manager. But the former AC Milan striker and Ballon d’Or 2004 winner only saw, in Serie A football news, Roma secure a late away victory over Genoa at the Luigi Ferraris stadium.
The Special One’s side claimed a 2-0 victory over Genoa. And these three points saw them moving up to the fifth place, 10 points behind the Italian league’s leaders, Napoli.
Meanwhile ‘I Rossoblu’ have failed to win in all of their last 5 outings and remain at the relegation zone. They are in the hope that Shevchenko will make a difference.
Serie A Football News – Roma Secure a Late Away Victory over Genoa
Roma made the brighter start in this match and thought they secured an early goal following Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s brilliant strike.
But referees disallowed his goal because it struck Tammy Abraham’s hand on route to flying past Salvatore Sirigu.
Eldor Shomurodov was next to come close for ‘I Giallorossi’. But the former Genoa man blazed a sliding effort over the bar after Stephan El Shaarawy superbly teed him up.
Jose Mourinho’s men began the second half on the front foot, but failed to take an advantage of their possession.
Rui Patrício was largely a spectator down the other end of the pitch. But he needed to be alert when Johan Vasquez whipped in a dangerous cross towards Stefano Sturaro. The latter got tangled up with El Shaarawy, but still managed to force the Portuguese shot-stopper into a save.
Then, finally, Mkhitaryan added an assist to his positive performance, as he made a driving run forward. By doing so, he teed up substitute Felix Afena-Gyan to score his first-ever senior goal for Roma.
It was a cool and composed finish just 8 minutes before the final whistle.
But the substitute’s second goal was even better with a stunning strike from distance in an injury time. Not only did Afena-Gyan double Roma’s lead, he also caught the spotlight by opening his Roma tally with a brace.
Genoa – AS Roma 0:2
Goals: Afena-Gyan 82’, 90+4’
