Genoa ride their luck as Ellertsson screamer sinks Venezia
A stunning Mikael Ellertsson strike against his old club gave Genoa a crucial win at Marassi, even as Venezia dominated the shot count and squandered the clearer chances.
Genoa claimed a significant victory in their relegation fight, beating Venezia 1-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris thanks to a brilliant long-range finish from former Lagunari midfielder Mikael Ellertsson, Football Italia reported.
The result arrived after a mixed run for Davide Nicola's opponents and for Genoa themselves, who had followed a 2-1 win over Fiorentina with a 2-0 defeat at Roma before this fixture.
Genoa were missing Kingsley Ehizibue, Djibril Sow and Lorenzo Venturino, while Lorenzo Colombo and Amorim were short of full fitness, opening the door for Mario Mitaj to make his Serie A debut. Venezia, still without Thierry Correia, Andrea Adorante, Marin Sverko and Bartol Franjic through injury, had Nicola in the away dugout after a debut 1-0 win over Napoli had brought the club its first points of the campaign.
A moment of quality settles a cagey start
The opening exchanges followed the pattern of a tight relegation fixture. Leo Ostigard's header from a Genoa set piece gave Filip Stankovic no trouble, and Junior Messias drove an effort wide from distance. Venezia looked sharper in transition, and Justin Bijlow had to react well to deny John Yeboah after Akor Adams had worked the move forward.
The game then turned in an instant. Ellertsson, back at the ground where he once played for Venezia, picked up possession outside the area and curled a left-footed shot into the top corner with the goalkeeper unable to react. He chose not to celebrate, a gesture of respect toward the club he used to represent.
Genoa almost doubled the lead soon after. Messias could only scuff a volley wide after Stephan El Shaarawy dinked a ball over the Venezia defence, and Bijlow had to push away a dangerous low effort from Yeboah to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
Venezia's volume of chances went unrewarded
The second half told a different story in terms of territory. Venezia pushed for an equaliser and created a string of openings, but their finishing let them down repeatedly. Headers from Ridgeciano Haps and Redouane Halhal lacked precision, and Bijlow saved snapshots from both Kike Perez and Adams as Genoa were pinned back.
The clearest chance of all fell to Simon Sohm from a corner, rising unmarked only to glance his header over the crossbar. Moments later Yeboah twisted to meet another dead-ball delivery, but his effort was deflected narrowly wide. Venezia lost Samuel Wiafe to a suspected groin injury during the pressure, and Kike Perez flashed another low drive just past the far post before Bijlow had to beat away a stoppage-time attempt from Adams to protect the points.
The match statistics underline how lopsided the territorial battle was. Venezia had 55 per cent possession to Genoa's 45, and outshot the hosts 19 to 7, with five shots on target to Genoa's four. Yet none of that volume translated into a goal, while Genoa needed only one moment of individual quality to take all three points. It is a reminder that shot counts measure pressure applied, not chances truly converted, and a team built to sit deep and break can still come out ahead of a side that dominates the ball.
What it means for two struggling sides
For Genoa, the win follows the template that worked against Fiorentina: concede territory, defend compactly, and rely on moments of quality in the final third, with Ellertsson and El Shaarawy combining for the only goal that mattered. For Venezia, the problem was not creating chances but finishing them, something Nicola will need to address quickly if the momentum from the Napoli win is not to evaporate after this setback at Marassi.
Both clubs remain entangled in the lower reaches of Serie A, and this result, described by Football Italia as potentially decisive in their head-to-head relegation battle, could carry weight well beyond this round of fixtures.