Genoa close gap with derby triumph

UEFA Europa League contenders Genoa CFC moved to within a point of the top four in Serie A by defeating city rivals UC Sampdoria 3-0 in a fiery Derby della Lanterna which featured three red cards.

Incident packed
Omar Milanetto fired the Rossoblu in front from the penalty spot ten minutes in at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after Rodrigo Palacio was tripped by Reto Ziegler. Genoa were reduced to ten men when Giuseppe Biava (45) was shown a second yellow card, yet they still extended their lead eight minutes after the break through Marco Rossi, who drifted in from the right and dispatched Milanetto's cross from close range. Genoa's position was further enhanced on 66 minutes when Marco Rossi of Sampdoria was sent off.

Second penalty
Raffaele Palladino then put the result beyond doubt with a quarter of an hour remaining with Genoa's second spot-kick of the match, awarded for Ziegler's foul on Sokratis Papastathopoulos. A disappointing night for the Blucerchiati was compounded late on with the dismissal of Fabrizio Cacciatore. Sampdoria remain fourth but could slip to sixth if Parma FC and ACF Fiorentina win on Sunday.

Top scorer
In the early kick-off, Udinese Calcio ended AS Livorno Calcio's mini revival with a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Friuli. The Tuscan club's three league wins this term had come in their past five matches yet their hopes of taking anything away from north-east Italy were in disarray by half-time. Antonio Di Natale curled in a free-kick on 29 minutes, a league-leading tenth goal of the season, and nine minutes later Antonio Floro Flores climbed above Marcus Diniz to head in a left-wing cross from Aleksandar Luković.