GENOA: Darko Lazovic scored his maiden Serie A goal to give Genoa a 1-0 win over Fiorentina on Thursday as they finally settled a match that began on September 11 and was interrupted by torrential rain.

The original encounter, played on the third matchday of the season, was abandoned in the 28th minute. Under Serie A rules, the remaining 62 minutes were played rather than starting from scratch, although the teams could change their lineups.

In accordance with league rules, the match at the Marassi stadium was replayed from when it was stopped, meaning Mattia Perin started the match with a goal-kick, which was what the hosts’’’keeper was about to do when officials called a halt three months ago.

Faced with the chance to move up to sixth place at 10 points behind leaders Juventus, Fiorentina instead produced an error-strewn performance that was punished in clinical fashion on 37 minutes.

A slip from attacking midfielder Federico Berna­rdeschi allowed Nikola Ninkovic to sweep in a cross from the left for Serbia midfielder Lazovic, who slid in at the back post to break his duck in Italy’s top flight following his move to Genoa from Red Star Belgrade in July last year.

“We wanted to start strongly ... we did so and luckily we also scored,” Genoa coach Ivan Juric said. “We did a bit less in the second half, but without really risking too much.”

Seventh-placed Fiorentina came to life in the second half as Mauro Zarate rifled a shot against the crossbar and then sent a header just wide.

Bernardeschi also had two chances, the first after some neat footwork in the area, although Fiorentina were also vulnerable on the break.

“We tried to win, but we made mistakes in several situations and because of that we couldn’t impose our game,” Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa said. “It was above all our mistaken approach in determining the pace of the match.”

Genoa are 10th with 23 points, three behind their opponents.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2016