Genoa's early double leaves Juventus with the ball and no goals

Genoa scored in the 12th and 28th minutes, then held on at the Luigi Ferraris while Juventus kept most of the possession.

Genoa were ahead inside half an hour, and that is the first thing to understand about this game. Kingsley Ehizibue opened the scoring in the 12th minute, set up by Tommaso Baldanzi, and Baldanzi himself made it 2-0 in the 28th. Juventus had the ball for most of the afternoon, which for them is ordinary: 63% is close to their usual share of possession when they play away, which runs at 60.3%. Yet the early goals meant that possession never turned into a scoreline.

Juventus were not short of attempts. They had 16 shots, which is in line with their away average of 15.3, and nine of them came from inside the box. The trouble was the quality. Expected goals, a rough measure of how good a chance is judged to be, came to 0.88 for Juventus, well below their away average of 1.39. Only three of their efforts were on target, so the shots were plentiful but not especially dangerous.

Genoa did almost the opposite. They had only 37% of the ball, which is under their home average of 45.5%, and they were comfortable letting Juventus circulate it. When they did attack, they created more than usual: 14 shots, against a home average of 10.4, and an expected goals figure of 1.01 against their normal 0.87. Their two goals also came above the 0.8 they average at home, so they turned a modest share of the play into a stronger return than usual.

The defensive picture is just as clear. Juventus usually concede around one goal a game when they travel, and they conceded two here. Their own goalscoring was the missing piece, since they average 1.4 goals away from home and came away with none. Genoa, who concede 1.6 at home on average, kept a clean sheet, which is a useful reminder that the normal figures do not always hold up in a single match.

The discipline side was quieter. Juventus committed eight fouls and picked up one yellow card, when Edon Zhegrova was booked in the 70th minute. Genoa had no cards of either colour. Both sides made their substitutions in the second half, but none of them altered the main outline: Genoa's early lead was already doing the work, and Juventus were chasing a game they had mostly controlled on possession.

In the table, Genoa have 7 points from their eight home matches, while Juventus have 14 from eight away. Genoa's win was their first at home this season that came with a clean sheet in the same match, and Juventus leave Genoa with one more lesson about how little possession counts for when the goals arrive early.

Player of the matchT. Baldanzi1 goal · 1 assist8.9

K. Ehizibue1 goal7.6

J. Bijlow4 saves7.4

J. Vásquez7 duels won7.4