Genoa edged past Südtirol 1-0 in the Coppa Italia Round of 32 on 15 September 2026, grinding out a victory that felt longer than ninety minutes. The hosts had not won since their trip to Lazio ended 1-0 against them, and here they found a way through. By then the pressure had been building for a while, and the result came down to one decisive moment.
Eighty-seven minutes in, Johan Vásquez found the net to settle what had been a patient contest. He had been waiting for his chance, and when it came he took it cleanly. And here's the thing about these knockout games — you can dominate for eighty minutes and still go home empty-handed if you do not convert.
Both managers made changes throughout, trying to shift momentum. Andrea Giorgini came off in the 45th minute, followed by four substitutions around the hour mark from both sides. Tommaso Baldanzi, Mattia Pellini, Kenny Meddy Mixtur, Sebastian Otoa, Franz-Ethan Meichtry and Davide Veroli all saw action, but none of them could find the breakthrough until Vásquez's late effort.
The statistics tell you what the eye already saw — Genoa created more, Südtirol defended deeper. The hosts registered 2.07 expected goals against 0.28 for their opponents, and six shots on target compared to just two. They won 12 aerial duels to 10, but the real difference was in the final third, where Genoa made 154 passes into the opposition half while Südtirol managed 40. To be fair, the visitors did not have many chances to take.
After five matches without a win, Genoa finally have something to build on. Südtirol's run came to an end, and they will need to regroup before the next round. The goal difference says nothing about how tight it was, but that is how these games often go — one moment, one scorer, and the rest is just noise.
