Genoa stunned Juventus 2-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Wednesday night, as first-half goals from Kingsley Ehizibue and Tommaso Baldanzi condemned Luciano Spalletti's side to a third Serie A defeat of the season and deepened the crisis gathering around the Old Lady.
Daniele De Rossi's team struck twice inside the opening 28 minutes and then held out with discipline and spirit, ending a six-match winless head-to-head run against Juventus with their most eye-catching victory of the campaign.
Two deflections, one ruthless start
Genoa began confidently, just as they had in their early-scoring win over Venezia at the weekend, and they were rewarded after 12 minutes. Baldanzi's low delivery from the left found Ehizibue in the box, and his strike flew in via a huge deflection off Andrea Cambiaso, as reported by Flashscore.
The second arrived on 28 minutes and followed a familiar pattern. Pape Matar Sarr failed to clear, Vitinha darted into the area and the loose ball fell to Baldanzi, whose close-range finish beat Guglielmo Vicario via a deflection off Gleison Bremer. Baldanzi, who had struggled for regular minutes, finished the night with a goal and an assist.
Juventus should have pulled one back before the interval, but Pierre Kalulu wasted a golden chance from close range. After the break Leo Ostigard headed narrowly over and Vitinha fired off target as Genoa threatened a third on the counter, while Bremer's late header flashed inches over at the other end on a night that summed up Juve's frustration. It was a similarly wild night elsewhere in Serie A, where Bologna stunned Milan, and Genoa's win will rank alongside it as one of the results of the round.
The student beats the mentor
The touchline story gave the result an extra layer. De Rossi played under Spalletti at Roma, and the pair even shared a joint pre-match television interview before kick-off. Afterwards De Rossi told DAZN Italia, via Football Italia, that it meant a lot to beat his mentor: "It was a complete performance, because we held out under pressure a lot better than we had done in recent matches. The team showed heart and spirit, also with a few good attacking moves, so we are really happy."
De Rossi added that he had thought about coaching from his mid-twenties and that wins against coaches like Spalletti and Gian Piero Gasperini meant a great deal, while insisting the difference was made by his players. Genoa have now won three straight home games, against Venezia, Fiorentina and now Juventus, and sit five points clear of the relegation zone.
So what does it mean?
For Juventus the numbers are stark: 14 points from nine games, a third league defeat, and no back-to-back league wins since the opening two weeks of the season. The pressure on Spalletti now intensifies before Sunday's visit of Napoli, who won 4-1 at Monza tonight to move level on points with Juve — the kind of heavyweight occasion that has defined Serie A weekends like the one that saw Lazio run riot at Sassuolo. Lose that one too, and the conversation in Turin stops being about a slow start and starts being about a season slipping away in October.
For Genoa and De Rossi, this is a platform: a young coach, a famous scalp, and a home crowd that suddenly believes. Lecce away is next, and on this evidence nobody will relish facing the Rossoblu.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this was no smash-and-grab. Genoa out-thought, out-ran and out-fought Juventus for 28 minutes, then defended their lead like a side that knew exactly what it meant. De Rossi beating Spalletti is the headline, but the verdict is bigger: Juventus, on this evidence, are not in a blip — they are in trouble. Can Spalletti turn it around against Napoli on Sunday, or is the Old Lady's season already unravelling? Let us know in the comments.
