Genoa turn over Verona

Genoa picked up their fourth win out of six since Gian Piero Gasperini took over as coach with a 2-0 success over Verona.

Genoa picked up their fourth win out of six games since Gian Piero Gasperini took over as coach with a 2-0 success over Hellas Verona on Sunday. The Rossoblu's third win in a row, secured by goals from Daniele Portanova and Juraj Kucka in the first half, lifted them to within five points of their opponents and into a much healthier position than the one they found themselves in when Gasperini took charge. Hellas tried to find a route back into the game in the second half but they found Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin in fine form to keep them out. Genoa, fresh from a 2-0 win at Lazio, looked particularly confident in the early stages of the game, showing glimpses of the kind of football they played during Gasperini's first spell in charge, which led them into the Europa League. Kucka has been looking particularly lively since Gasperini returned and he was demanding every ball in midfield, combining well with Francelino Matuzalem. The latter provided the corner which set up Portanova to head Genoa in front in the 29th minute, the Genoa defender left unmarked seven yards from goal. Just five minutes passed before Matuzalem sent in another perfect inviting ball for Kucka, who directed his header expertly past Rafael to make it two. Hellas came out for the second half with more belief, and it was not long before Genoa goalkeeper Perin started to get involved in the game having been a spectator for much of the first 45 minutes. The visitors threw caution to the wind, building up a head of steam in the final quarter of an hour which saw them come close to scoring through former Genoa forward Luca Toni, whose header hit the base of the post. The ball found its way to Daniele Cacia, but Perin flung himself across his goal to deny the Hellas forward with his chest, celebrating as if he had just scored a goal himself. Perin denied Cacia once again as Genoa held on to the points to further their recent resurgence.