Serie A | Genoa 2-1 Sassuolo: De Rossi wins World Cup winners’ duel

Caleb Ekuban’s late goal allowed Genoa to beat Sassuolo 2-1 at the Stadio Ferraris in a match between 2006 Italy World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi and Fabio Grosso.

• Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News & Content – Free Trial – Click Here

Genoa secured a crucial win in the race for survival on Sunday, beating Sassuolo 2-1 at home.

The visitors had the first goal-scoring opportunity with Andrea Pianamonti sending his header inches over the crossbar. Genoa reacted with a shot from Vitinha a few minutes later, seeing Sassuolo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric perform a save to his left.

Ruslan Malinovskyi broke the deadlock at minute 18 with a stunning goal from distance that left Muric completely still as he watched the ball fly into the top corner.

Both sides were reduced to ten men during the halftime break, as Mikael Ellertsson and Domenico Berardi were sent off following a physical clash inside the tunnel.

The game’s flow inevitably changed in the second half, with Sassuolo looking more dangerous than the home side despite Berardi’s sending off.

Ismaël Koné equalised from a set-piece corner routine as Tarik Muharemovic won an aerial challenge in the box and the Canada international reacted quickest, poking home the rebound.

De Rossi also made attacking substitutions, and his decisions paid off.

Messias, who had come off the bench just minutes earlier, dribbled past a Sassuolo defender on the edge of the box, played a sharp one-two with Sabelli and managed to slip a pass through with the tip of his foot, beating the slow-reacting Muric to set up Ekuban, who scored into an empty net.

Sassuolo were already safe before the game with 42 points, but this latest win allows Genoa to make a big leap in the standings, moving to 13th with 36 points, nine above the drop zone with six games remaining.

12-04-2026 11:30

MatchDay 32

Stadio Luigi Ferraris

Genoa

Sassuolo

2 - 1

Player statistic

1st half

Ruslan Malinovskyi		5'
Ruslan Malinovskyi (Assist: Tommaso Baldanzi)		18'
Morten Frendrup		20'
		32'		Josh Doig
		40'		Sebastian Walukiewicz
Mikael Egill Ellertsson		45+2'
		45+2'		Domenico Berardi

2nd half

		57'		Ismaël Koné
Caleb Ekuban (Assist: Junior Messias)		84'
		90+1'		Tarik Muharemovic

Genoa

Sassuolo

Starting lineups

16

Justin Bijlow

Goalkeeper

27

Alessandro Marcandalli

Defender

22

Johan Vásquez

Defender

5

Leo Östigard

Defender

20

Stefano Sabelli

Defender

87'

32

Morten Frendrup

Midfielder

17

Ruslan Malinovskyi

Midfielder

55'

8

Tommaso Baldanzi

Midfielder

55'

29

Lorenzo Colombo

Attacker

55'

77

Mikael Egill Ellertsson

Attacker

9

Vitinha

Attacker

75'

49

Arijanet Muric

Goalkeeper

21

Jay Idzes

Defender

3

Josh Doig

Defender

81'

6

Sebastian Walukiewicz

Defender

67'

80

Tarik Muharemovic

Defender

90

Ismaël Koné

Midfielder

87'

42

Kristian Thorstvedt

Midfielder

18

Nemanja Matic

Midfielder

67'

99

Andrea Pinamonti

Attacker

81'

45

Armand Lauriente

Attacker

10

Domenico Berardi

Attacker

Substitutes

39

Daniele Sommariva

Goalkeeper

1

Nicola Leali

Goalkeeper

21

Jeff Ekhator

Attacker

13

Nils Zätterström

Defender

4

Amorim

Midfielder

80

Jacopo Grossi

Midfielder

99

Latif Ouedraogo

Defender

40

Lukas Klisys

Defender

18

Caleb Ekuban

Attacker

55'

73

Patrizio Masini

Midfielder

55'

3

Aarón Martín

Defender

55'

10

Junior Messias

Attacker

75'

34

Sebastian Otoa

Defender

87'

12

Giacomo Satalino

Goalkeeper

16

Gioele Zacchi

Goalkeeper

8

M’Bala Nzola

Attacker

13

Stefano Turati

Goalkeeper

20

Alieu Fadera

Midfielder

66

Pedro Felipe

Defender

33

Christian Frangella

Midfielder

7

Cristian Volpato

Midfielder

67'

25

Woyo Coulibaly

Defender

67'

44

Edoardo Iannoni

Midfielder

81'

35

Luca Lipani

Midfielder

81'

24

Luca Moro

Attacker

87'