Serie A | Genoa 3-0 Torino: Ilkhan red could put Baroni in trouble

Marco Baroni’s job is under increasing threat after a disappointing 3-0 loss away against Genoa in Serie A on Sunday afternoon after goals from Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Caleb Ekuban and Junior Messias after a costly Emirhan Ilkhan sending off in the first half. 

Just three points separated the two sides, who were ranked in 14th and 15th place in the Serie A table ahead of kick-off. Genoa made just two changes to their starting line-up, swapping Ekuuban and Tommaso Baldanzi in for Vitinha and Messias, while Torino made five alterations, introducing Enzo Ebosse, Valentino Lazaro, Emirhan Ilkhan, Rafael Obrador and Sandro Kulenovic to their XI. 

Click here to read more about how the teams lined up.

Genoa broke the deadlock midway through the first period when Ekuban got a fortunate touch off Enzo Ebosse, which sent him through into the right hand side of the area. His shot was parried by Alberto Paleari and Norton-Cuffy was on-hand to finish off the rebound in the middle of the box. 

Genoa’s second was not too dissimilar to their first. They again broke down the right flank, this time with Baldanzi, whose shot was parried into the path of Ekuban, who just had to stick his leg out to tap home the rebound from point-blank range. 

Torino were left frustrated when they had a penalty appeal waved away just after the 40th minute. They were adamant that Ekuuban had handled the ball in the area from a corner, but there was no spot kick awarded despite a lengthy VAR check. 

Things went from bad to worse before the interval for Torino, as Ilhan was shown a straight red card for a lunge on Lorenzo Colombo inside the centre circle. 

Replays showed that his studs were up, his challenge was high on Colombo’s calf and that the referee was correct in his decision to send the Granata midfielder off for dangerous play. 

Daniele De Rossi’s side wrapped up the three points after a disastrous slip on the ball from Torino defender Marcus Holmgren Pedersen in his own half. Second-half substitute Junior Messisas pounced, found himself one-on-one and made no mistake in front of goal from close range. 

This result means that Genoa and Torino have swapped positions in the Serie A table, both now sitting level on points on 27. Reports from Tuttosport suggest that Baroni’s job could not be under serious threat after picking up just four points from the last five matches. 

Genoa 3-0 Torino

Norton-Cuffy 22′ (G), Ekuban 40 (G), Messias 83 (G)

Sent off: Ilhan 45+2 (T)