Roma 3-0 Genoa: Luca Toni Steers The Hosts To Victory With A Brace

Posted Monday, January 18, 2010 by Goal.com

The Giallorossi continued to exhibit their impressive form under the 'Tinkerman' as they defeated Genoa 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday afternoon..

Striker Luca Toni scored his first goals for Roma as the hosts comfortably defeated Genoa 3-0 at home to sustain their hopes of a top four finish in Serie A this season. Simone Perrotta gave the Lupi the lead in the 17th minute and two goals from Toni, one on the stroke of half time and the other on the hour mark, made it yet another victory in 2010 for the former Italian champions.

Roma started with Luca Toni and Mirko Vucinic upfront and Simone Perrotta, Rodrigo Taddei, David Pizarro and Matteo Brighi supporting them from the midfield. Genoa, who had suffered a 2-1 shock defeat to Catania at home in the Coppa Italia in midweek, commenced with David Suazo, Giandomenico Mesto and Giuseppe Sculli in attack.

Roma started the brighter of the two sides and made no secret of the fact that they were keen to make home advantage count. Winter signing Luca Toni seemed active in the opening minutes and his movements troubled the Genoa backline.

The Italian international striker had a great chance in the eighth minute with a free header but it went wide off target.

Three minutes later Genoa launced an attack of their own as Suazo took an attempt from a long range, but Roma custodian Julio Cesar made a comfortable save.

The hosts' pressure eventually paid off in the 17th minute when Simone Perrotta struck. A beautifully floated ball from the left from Pizarro wasn't properly cleared by the Genoa defence and Perrotta was on hand to slot it past goalkeeper Marco Amelia.

Eight minutes later the visitors could have restored parity had Julio Sergia not made an incredible save from Mesto.

Three minutes after the hour mark it was Amelia's turn to pull off a wonderful save. A cross was carved in from the left and Toni got the better of his marker Dario Dainelli to head from a close range but Amelia saved it.

The World Cup winner on-loan to Roma from Bayern Munich for until the end of the season finally scored the home side's second goal of the match. It came in the 45th minute when Vucinic drilled in a low cross from the right that Toni slided home to make it 2-0 to the hosts at half-time.

Perrotta Started The Scoring Against Genoa

The second half started at a slow pace and it seemed that both sides knew what the final result was going to be.

The first chance of the game didn't arrive until the 55th minute and it fell to Genoa. Ivan Fatic was released down the left side of the Roma penalty area but his left footed shot went wide off the far post.

The hosts didn't look much creative but they scored their third goal of the afternoon on the hour mark. Vucinic crafted in a well-measured free-kick from the right and Luca Toni was on hand to out-jump his markers and head the ball home for his second goal of the afternoon.

The game again went stale after that as Genoa appeared to have lost all motivation for trying to pull even one goal back. As for Roma, they comprehended that they had wrapped up maximum points from this fixture.

The Lupi continued to dominate possession but couldn't find the imagination or the craft to rip apart the opposition defence. However, in the latter stages they did come close when Toni, Brighi and Perrotta all combined but they lacked the final ball.

In the end, it finished 3-0 to Roma.