Genoa 2-1 Juventus: Player ratings as Bianconeri lose with last kick of the game
By Sean Walsh
Juventus missed the chance to climb into third place in the Serie A table after conceding two late goals in a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Genoa
Massimiliano Allegri's men are already assured of a place in next season's Champions League and are now vying with Napoli for the metaphorical bronze medal spot, missing the chance to go ahead of Luciano Spalletti's men. Meanwhile this win leaves Genoa one point from safety with just two games remaining.
A high ball from Paulo Dybala was met by Moise Kean, but his header clipped the very top of the Genoa bar as the first chance of the game went begging for Juventus.
Genoa managed to keep Juve at arm's length for much of the first half, racking up a number of set piece opportunities - the best of which fell to Mattia Destro, whose free header sailed over.
A low cross from Kean was tipped away from goal by Salvatore Sirigu before the Italian forward couldn't make the most of Adrien Rabiot's deep ball into the opposition box.
Dybala's speculative strike from 25-yards rolled straight into Sirigu's clutches as the two sides went into the half-time break on level terms.
Destro somehow fired over from point-blank range just 30 seconds into the second half when a low cross pierced its way through the Juve backline before Dybala broke the deadlock moments later with a superb right-footed finish from just outside the Genoa box.
Substitute Caleb Ekuban lashed a fierce shot across the face of Wojciech Szczesny's goal before the Polish stopper had to be alert to deny Morten Frendrup.
Juventus saw a rare attack end with Dybala strike the post with a curling effort from range, while Adrien Rabiot's cutback for Kean saw Sirigu pull out a top save to deny the Everton loanee.
Dusan Vlahovic, who had been clamped down for most of the evening, nearly doubled Juve's lead after holding off a number of Genoa defenders as he dribbled his way through the 18-yard box, but again Sirigu came to the hosts' rescue.
Kean had the ball in the net after a clever dink over the veteran goalkeeper but the flag had been raised for an obvious offside, and fired over again after a dummy from Alvaro Morata set him through on goal.
Just as Szczesny nearly committed a howler at one end, Juventus earned a penalty at the other when Marley Ake was fouled by Albert Gudmundsson. However, after a VAR review, the Icelandic attacker was judged to have got the ball first and the spot kick was revoked.
And Gudmundsson went from zero to hero when he netted the equaliser with five minutes remaining. Nadiem Amiri's pass between Daniele Rugani and Mattia De Sciglio rolled perfectly into the 24-year-old's path and he made no mistake to grab his first Serie A goal.
Genoa should have gone ahead when Rabiot gifted the hosts possession, but Amiri was denied by Szczesny on this occasion.
With stoppage time winding down Kean missed yet another gilt-edged chance to win, somehow firing wide when one-on-one with Sirigu after an unselfish bit of play by Morata.
And the drama wasn't over there as Genoa were awarded a last-gasp penalty when De Sciglio clipped Kelvin Yeboah's ankles.
Domenico Criscito stepped up and kept his nerve to beat Szczesny and keep Genoa's survival hopes alive.
Juventus player ratings vs Genoa (4-3-3)
GK: Wojciech Szczesny - 5/10 - Made a few good saves but most were from chances where the offside flag later went up.
RB: Juan Cuadrado - 3/10 - Touch was all over the place. A net negative in and out of possession.
CB: Leonardo Bonucci - 6/10 - Made a number of important tackles and blocks.
CB: Daniele Rugani - 5/10 - His passing helped Juve play from the back but he switched off late on.
LB: Mattia De Sciglio - 1/10 - Like Cuadrado was very sloppy in possession and a detriment out of it. At fault for Genoa's two late goals.
CM: Fabio Miretti - 5/10 - Physically overpowered but was aggressive in demanding the ball and never shied away from the challenge.
CM: Arthur - 2/10 - Lost his cool on occasion. Lost possession more frequently.
CM: Adrien Rabiot - 5/10 - Surprisingly the best of Juventus' starting midfielders, though the bar wasn't very high.
RF: Paulo Dybala - 7/10 - The technique was obviously there but Dybala was lacking in quality for decent stretches. He only needed one moment to fire Juve in front, however. Now level with Roberto Baggio in the club's all-time scorers list.
CF: Dusan Vlahovic - 3/10 - All over the shop when he wasn't playing one-touch football. Linked up nicely with Kean on occasion but couldn't make a substantial impact.
LF: Moise Kean - 5/10 - Worked hard, carved out his own chances and provided energy that Juventus seriously lacked across the pitch. But ultimately his wastefulness cost his side.
SUB: Denis Zakaria (60' for Arthur) - 5/10
SUB: Alex Sandro (60' for Cuadrado) - 3/10
SUB: Federico Bernardeschi (74' for Miretti) - 3/10
SUB: Alvaro Morata (74' for Vlahovic) - 6/10
SUB: Marley Ake (80' for Dybala) - N/A