Italian Serie A: Easy win for Genoa as they beat Cesena

Genoa continued their impressive recent run with a comprehensive 3-0 Serie A victory over lowly Cesena on Sunday.

Genoa struck twice in the opening seven minutes through Alessandro Matri and Luca Antonelli and, with second-bottom Cesena only having managed to score twice in a match once since winning promotion, the clash was as good as over from that point on.

The visitors had the luxury of missing a penalty through Matri before Nicolas Burdisso's deflected shot made it 3-0 just before half-time, and that is the way the game finished.

The result saw Genoa climb up to third while extending their unbeaten run to eight matches, while Cesena - whose miserable afternoon was summed up by their own penalty miss in the second half - continue to struggle in the relegation zone.

The Seahorses had only won one game coming into this match and it was little surprise to see them in trouble so soon against in-form Genoa.

There were just four minutes on the clock when the visitors took the lead when Matri picked up Andrea Bertolacci's through-ball on the edge of the box and slotted a left-footed effort low past Nicola Leali.

And it was 2-0 three minutes later as Matri turned provider with a corner that Antonelli converted from close range.

It was looking very bleak for Cesena at that point, and things appeared to get even worse in the 30th minute when Genoa - who also hit the crossbar through Juraj Kucka during their first-half onslaught - won a penalty after Stefano Lucchini was deemed to have handled in the area.

However, the home side earned a reprieve on that occasion as Leali flung himself to his left to parry away Matri's spot-kick.

Genoa did not have to wait much longer to get their third goal, though, with Cesena only able to clear Bertolacci's cross to Burdisso on the edge of the area and his right-footed shot deflected past Leali off Massimo Volta.

With the points already in the bag, it seemed only a matter of how many goals Genoa would run up in the second half.

In the end though, they could were unable to add to their tally and it was Cesena who had the best chance, only for Emmanuel Cascione to smack his 62nd-minute penalty against the bar.