Genoa 2 - 2 Atalanta: Genoa rally to force draw

Posted Wednesday, January 07, 2015 by PA

Genoa recovered from going two goals behind to pick up a point from a 2-2 draw with Atalanta at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Davide Zappacosta's first goal in Serie A and a Maximiliano Moralez effort put Stefano Colantuono's men in command in Liguria.

Iago Falque pulled a goal back from the penalty spot soon after before Alessandro Matri netted his first goal at the Marassi to earn the high-flying hosts a point.

It was all Genoa early on with shots from Tomas Rincon, Matri and Edenilson all giving Marco Sportiello plenty of work to do in the Atalanta goal.

It looked like he was in for a very busy afternoon indeed as the Rossoblu pushed for a win which would have taken them up to fourth in the standings.

What they had not counted on, however, was letting Atalanta take their first chance of the game to go in front before the interval.

Davide Baselli's long ball was finely weighted for Zappacosta, who held off the challenge of Edenilson and kept his cool to beat Mattia Perin.

Soon after half-time, a mistake by Facundo Roncaglia was pounced upon by Baselli, who snatched possession in midfield and sent another perfectly timed ball through for Moralez, who emulated Zappacosta's composure to double the Nerazzurri's advantage.

Genoa's response was immediate with Matri earning a penalty when he was tripped by Yohan Benalouane on his way into the penalty area.

Falque converted from the spot and raced to pick up the ball as Genoa believed they could turn the game around.

They levelled when Edenilson touched the ball past Sportiello to the unmarked Matri, who netted with his thigh from a yard out, just after Moralez had wasted a good chance on the counter-attack.

Genoa pushed for a winner and they almost got it in stoppage time, but Sportiello came to Atalanta's rescue, denying Giannis Fetfatzidis with an excellent save to secure his side a point.