Genoa denies Juventus passage to the top of Serie A
Juventus missed the chance to move into top spot on the Serie A table as it was held to a 1-1 draw by a plucky Genoa side.
Juve’s only dropped points in its previous eight matches had come in a draw against leader Inter Milan, and a win would have left its rival playing catch-up in its upcoming clash with Lazio.
Federico Chiesa put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot in the 28th minute at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, but Albert Gudmundsson levelled three minutes after half-time and Juve could not find a winner.
Massimiliano Allegri was without Adrien Rabiot, who joined Mattia De Sciglio and Moise Kean on the sidelines because of a minor foot problem, while Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli were both suspended.
Genoa’s options in the attacking areas, meanwhile, were limited by the unavailability of Kevin Strootman and Mateo Retegui.
The hosts had the first shot in the sixth minute through Ruslan Malinovskyi, but it was from a long way out and was comfortably saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
Chiesa looked the man most likely at the other end and he tried to catch out Josep Martinez in the home goal with a fierce shot from the tightest of angles that was pushed behind.
Chiesa then turned creator in the 22nd minute with a brilliant cross to the edge of the six-yard box, where Dusan Vlahovic met the ball but could not keep his effort down.
Six minutes later the visitors took the lead, with Vlahovic seizing on a heavy touch in defence to play in Chiesa, who had his legs taken out by Martinez.
The striker picked himself up and confidently found the bottom corner from the penalty spot for his first goal in Serie A since September.
Genoa tried to hit back, but the closest it came before the break was a Johan Vasquez effort from a corner that flew just over the crossbar.
Alberto Gilardino sent on Caleb Ekuban for the second half in place of Vasquez and within three minutes he had created the equaliser, chesting the ball down and then heading it on for Gudmundsson to fire into the net on the stretch.
Martinez made amends for his own mistake three minutes later, this time timing his challenge on Chiesa perfectly after he had given the ball straight to the Juventus forward.
He then pushed away an Andrea Cambiaso cross that just evaded the onrushing Vlahovic.
But Martinez saved his best for last, reacting very smartly to push the ball over the bar after a corner hit Gleison Bremer on the hip, securing an impressive point for Genoa.
