Mauricio Pinilla climbed off the bench to net a late winner for Genoa at the expense of 10-man Lazio, who paid the price for not making their first-half dominance count.


The match looked destined to finish in a goalless stalemate until fortune swung Genoa's way in the final five minutes.

Firstly, Lazio lost Holland centre-back Stefan de Vrij to a second yellow card for handball, and then Genoa made the most of their numerical advantage as Pinilla's 87th-minute strike sealed a 1-0 victory.

It was Genoa's first win of the season after taking one point from their opening two games, while Lazio slumped to their second defeat.

Lazio had bounced back from their opening-day loss to AC Milan with a 3-0 home win over Cesena last time out, and they should really have had another victory within their grasp by half-time at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The visitors dominated from the start and fashioned seven chances of varying quality in a one-sided first half.

The best of them fell to Filip Djordjevic in the 36th minute, but his close-range header from Antonio Candreva's cross crashed against the crossbar.

Genoa keeper Mattia Perin also played his part in thwarting Lazio, twice saving from Felipe Anderson, as well as keeping out efforts from Candreva and Senad Lulic.

Djordjevic and Lulic also saw shots go over the bar as the Romans made all the running.

Lazio will wonder how they were not ahead at the break and, almost inevitably, they did not enjoy anywhere near as much success in the second period as Genoa improved.

The visitors still had their moments, Felipe Anderson and Lulic firing over, but it was now Genoa who looked the more likely scorers - especially following the introduction of Pinilla.

The much-travelled Chile international replaced Alessandro Matri in the 68th minute and within three minutes of his arrival created a chance for fellow replacement Maxime Lestienne, who blazed high over the net.

The same duo combined again in the 79th minute, with the same result, before Genoa were given a huge helping hand when De Vrij was given his marching orders.

Genoa lost their opening home match 2-1 to Napoli after conceding a stoppage-time winner but this time it was their fans celebrating late on as Pinilla - who scored in the defeat to Napoli - headed into an empty net following good work by Andrea Bertolacci and Diego Perotti.