Genoa 1 : 1 Cesena - Cesena clinging on

Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2012 by PA

Cesena kept alive their slim hopes of avoiding relegation by salvaging a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Genoa in Serie A.

Marco Rossi opened the scoring for the home side at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, but Adrian Mutu's reply 14 minutes from time ensured the points were shared.

Cesena remain at the foot of the table and are 15 points adrift of Genoa, who sit just above the bottom three with six games remaining.

The visitors began brightly, with Roberto Guana curling a ninth-minute free-kick over the crossbar.

Mutu then tried his luck from 25 yards, but failed to get any power behind his shot allowing Genoa goalkeeper Sebastian Frey to make an easy save.

The home side took 30 minutes to create their first chance, but it almost resulted in a goal. Davide Biondini whipped in a shot from just outside of the box which hit Cesena defender Yohan Benalouane before trickling past the right post.

Genoa grew in confidence after that, with Rodrigo Palacio firing over the bar from distance.

And they took the lead four minutes before the interval through Rossi, who picked up a pass from Guiseppe Sculli before rounding goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli before slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.

Sculli could have added another eight minutes into the second half but put his shot past the left post, while team-mate Miguel Veloso was also wasteful with his strike.

Sculli then teed up Alberto Gilardino for a header which dropped narrowly wide, before Cesena served up a timely reminder of their presence with a close-range strike from Vincenzo Renella which had to be palmed away by Frey.

Genoa failed to heed the warning, though, and after 76 minutes the visitors were level with Mutu firing into the bottom right corner from inside the box.

Both teams pushed hard for a late winner but it was Genoa who came the closest, Palacio lashing in a shot which was inches high.