At the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona, Genoa returned to the pitch for the first time after their recent Covid-19 outbreak which saw up to 22 first team players testing positive for the deadly virus, as they traveled to meet their former coach and captain Ivan Juric, now at the helm of Hellas Verona. After the craziness of the last two days, with 41 Serie A goals scored during the weekend, Verona and Genoa gave calcio fans an anti-climatic ending to an otherwise thrilling round 4, with an uninspiring goalless affair.
NOI IN CAMPO COSÌ ?
FORZA VERONA ??#DaiVerona #VeronaGenoa #SerieATIM #lastoriAcontinuA pic.twitter.com/5mk8zjncuw— Hellas Verona FC (@HellasVeronaFC) October 19, 2020
Both managers decided to flash several of their new signings from the get-go, with Federico Ceccherini, Ronaldo Vieira, Ivan Ilić, Adrian Tameze all starting for Verona, with former Genoa players Andrea Favilli and Darko Lazovic also facing their former club.
On the other hand, Genoa coach Rolando Maran started with the immortal Goran Pandev in attack as usual, alongside him Eldor Shomurodov, with fellow new signings Lennart Czyborra, Milan Badelj and 18-year-old Nicolò Rovella all being handed starting spots with the Grifone squad being decimated due to the positive Covid-19 tests.
The first half started as slowly as possible, with even half chances rarely coming by. At the 24th minute, Verona Captain Davide Faraoni crossed from the right, but young striker Ebrima Colley failed to direct the ball to goal.
?? Ecco gli 11 Grifoni di #VeronaGenoa
⚽️ @SerieA
? #ForzaGenoa pic.twitter.com/gmWQ2huNp4
— Genoa CFC (@GenoaCFC) October 19, 2020
A minute later, Genoa were handed a free-kick on the edge of Verona box, but the youngster Ravella converted it too high for goal.
At the 33rd minute, the first real goal scoring opportunity was finally witnessed, as Goran Pandev managed to break through the Verona box, but the Genoa veteran’s shot was well saved by Marco Silvestri.
Colley immediately replied with a chance of his own, as he runs half the pitch with the ball at his feet before unleashing a low sbot that Mattia Perin parries away.
The second half started with some early promise, as Colley feeds Favilli in the first minute, but the young Verona forward fails to trouble his former teammate Perin with his weak shot.
0 – #Verona have kept a clean sheet in all their first three seasonal Serie A home games for the first time since 1971/72. Bulletproof.#VeronaGenoa
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) October 19, 2020
And so, the second half turned out to be almost identical to the first – if not worse – with very few action to write about. Though Colley tested Perin yet again, as the former Juventus goalkeeper makes the save at the near post.
At the 84 minute, Verona substitute Federico Dimarco provides a delicious cross from a free-kick, but his fellow substitute Eddie Salcedo couldn’t score from the header due to another impressive Mattia Perin save, who seemed to be the front runner for the man of the match award.
Finally, in the 4th and last minute of additional time, Faraoni provides a cross for the new Verona signing Nikola Kalinic, but the former Fiorentina, Milan and Roma striker couldn’t connect well with the ball, and thus wasted the last chance of the match.
At the final whistle, both managers seemed satisfied with adding a point to their respective totals, but it does feel like Hellas Verona have waisted 2 points at home against a Genoa side that is suffering on all levels.
Some good opportunities, but #VeronaGenoa ends without goals: 0-0 ?#SerieATIM #WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/OBhFkWOYwQ
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) October 19, 2020