Lecce had the ball and the shots, Genoa had the goals

Genoa beat Lecce 2-1 at the Via del Mare, with two first-half goals outweighing Lecce's greater share of the ball.

Lecce had eighteen shots at home and still went down 2-1. Genoa were ahead inside half an hour: Milutin Osmajić scored in the eleventh minute with Junior Messias providing the assist, and Messias himself scored at 28 after a pass from Stephan El Shaarawy. Youssef Maleh pulled one back for Lecce at 40, and a goal credited to Nikola Stulic just before half time was ruled out by VAR, the video review, so the home side went in still a goal behind.

The ball spent more time with Lecce than it usually does. They had 53% possession, where their home average this season is 40.4%, and Genoa were left with 47%, close to their away average of 44.6%. Lecce were the side pressing forward, but keeping the ball more often does not guarantee better openings, and this match showed that.

Eighteen shots is a lot for a side that averages 11.1 at home, but only seven of them were on target. The expected goals figure, which estimates how good a chance was based on where it came from and how it was struck, came to 0.96 for Lecce, below the 1.1 they usually reach at home. They took more attempts than usual and got slightly less from them.

Genoa had the better chances. They managed only three shots on target from thirteen attempts, yet their expected goals reached 1.28, well above the 0.89 they usually produce on the road. Messias was the difference, scoring and assisting for a rating of 9, while J. Bijlow made six saves in the Genoa goal, which is a large part of why Lecce's eighteen shots produced only one goal.

Lecce's defence also allowed less than usual. Genoa's chances added up to 1.28 expected goals, against the 1.94 Lecce usually concede at home, so the back line gave up better openings than normal in this match, though not many fewer goals than the 2.1 they average. The three goals were also fewer than the 3.3 scored per game across the league.

Both sides used all five of their substitutions, and Lecce's came at 75 minutes with the score still 2-1 to the visitors, so they had little time to change it. Genoa's changes came while they were ahead, and the late goal for Genoa from Osmajić at 86 arrived with a substitute on the pitch.

Genoa have 10 points from their nine away matches and sit 13th, one place and one point above Lecce, who have 9 from nine and sit 14th.

Player of the matchJunior Messias1 goal · 1 assist9.0

J. Bijlow6 saves7.6

M. Osmajić1 goal7.5

S. El Shaarawy1 assist7.5