Seeking to keep up the pace at the top of the table, Ciro Ferrara took his side to Genoa, hoping to preserve their immaculate record in Serie A this season. As the final whistle sounded, the two sides could not be separated, and both had to settle for a point apiece. A late equaliser from substitute David Trezeguet secured the draw for ‘la vecchia signora’.

Vincenzo Iaquinta had given the Bianconeri an early lead, however, his goal was cancelled out through efforts by Giandomenico Mesto and Hernan Crespo. Having been pegged back for large parts of the match and falling behind to a bullet-header from veteran Crespo, a point away at Stadio Luigi Ferraris doesn’t seem such a bad result.

Felipe Melo
Felipe Melo returned from an ankle injury that had kept him on the sidelines for the past two weeks, and ‘the Enforcer’ immediately looked assured as ever. The Brazilian’s presence playing in the deep midfield holding role provided the back-line with much needed protection from the incessant Genoa attacks. He screened the back-four impeccably, breaking up moves with his timely tackles and interceptions, and will prove to be a superb acquisition.

Claudio Marchisio
He was joined in the midfield by fans favourite Claudio Marchisio, who appears to be maturing and improving with every game he plays. Composed in possession, hard in the tackle and with some glittering skills to boot, Marchisio is fast becoming a mainstay in the side.

The future of the Italian Game
Despite the disappointment of dropping our first points of the season, I couldn’t help but be distracted during the game. During the 90 minutes of football I had a reoccurring thought...what a fantastic advertisement for the Italian game. After taking a battering over the last few years for being predictably negative and lacklustre, sides such as Juventus, and the likes of Genoa, Sampdoria and regrettably Inter, are making a case for a resurgent Serie A. The pace and ferocity of last night’s game gave me great encouragement, that our beloved game isn’t dead and buried just yet. The days of ‘let’s take a 1-0 lead and shut up shop’ are long gone for some sides, with Genoa continuing to press forward and attempting to maintain their strong push for more goals up until the final minutes. Perhaps the introduction of young, talented coaches such as Ciro Ferrara is having a major influence on the Italian sides. Given the chance, they are assembling sides overwhelmed with gifted and pacy youngsters. Clearly, the cobwebs are not fully shaken off Lega Calcio just yet, and it would be very naive to think the crowds will come flocking back. Nevertheless, it is a start and with some consistent entertainment such as that dished out last night, the hope is that other teams will follow suit and improve the flagging reputation of the Italian game.

Full credit to Genoa, who quite simply play superb attacking football from the first minute to the last. Similarly, Juve continued to press forward in numbers and were far from happy to settle for a point, which in turn provided a very entertaining game for all to see. Many will travel to the Marassi and come away with nothing this season, so rescuing a point is far from second-rate. Let us hope the unbeaten run continues for many weeks to come...